Penn State Ex-President's Lawsuit Seeks To End His Prosecution in Sandusky Scandal
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Philadelphia prosecutor Frank Fina is in the news again. This time, he is prominently named in a federal lawsuit filed by former Penn State University president Graham Spanier, who is seeking to stop the state's case against him in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Fina has been publicly tangling with Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane (see related story), and now Spanier -- charged in an alleged coverup of Jerry Sandusky's crimes -- is targeting Fina in a federal lawsuit filed against Kane.
The issue involves the role of a Penn State attorney that Spanier believed was representing him when he appeared before a grand jury. Spanier's lawsuit asks federal court to stop the prosecution, saying that it was undertaken in "bad faith" by Fina, who was then the top deputy in the attorney general's office.
The suit alleges that Fina "deliberately obtained uncounselled testimony from Spanier" because, the suit contends, Fina was present when the Penn State lawyer told a supervising grand jury judge in Spanier's absence that she was representing only the university, and not Spanier, in that forum.
