Nittany Nightmare Continues Past Sandusky: Former President Spanier Charged- NEW Charges for Curley and Schultz Filed
Happy Valley- PA On the heels of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky’s transfer to his new home, what most predicted would follow- has.
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier, fired by the Penn State Board of Trust the same day as legendary late-Nittany Lions Coach Joe Paterno, is facing serious charges today filed by Sandusky’s prosecutors.
Spanier is facing counts of obstruction of justice, perjury, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children and failure to report allegations of child abuse.
Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, who were facing perjury and charges based on “non-reporting”, are now facing all five similar charges as Spanier- additional filings occurred simultaneously.
Linda L. Kelly stated the men “used their positions to conceal and cover up for years the activities of a known child predator,” on Thursday following the announcement.
Please check back to www.blinkoncrime for this developing story.
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The question is why Glantz & Exarchos are so determined to entirely disable the entire CC DA Office and several judges. Dershem I see as just a nitwit (my opinion). One wonders what led Glantz & Exarchos to opportunistically use the motivated Cantorna & the phone records as the only possible RTK judicial gambit…..after the forgery gambit got sidelined.
It is possible it goes back to SPM’s disagreements with Glantz & Comms which she said involved possible criminal activity at the jail, violating Sunshine law wrt Prison Board hearings (which DA attends), & I suspect there are conflict of interest BoC Board appointments (self-interested private businessment on shale gas board), conflicts in Glantz’ private businesses & his son’s & his advising the Board approving variances & development, etc
@JJinPhila. One thing I appreciate is how respectful of Sloane you are.
This more rational writing in his post imo has the result of reflecting poorly on Gricar to me, and on the kick-off interviews to the investigation which probably over relied on associates like Sloane.
“….am proud to say we were very close friends outsid the office….(we socialized every weekend. tail-gated together for 15 years. ….in fact after the day he disappeared, I was the 1st person interviewed 100 feet from his car for 4 hours…”
http://www.centredaily.com/2015/04/10/4695194/da-parks-miller-appoints-her-lawyer.html
To this day I still am not comfortable with the reasons friends of his say they believe he is still alive. It is as if their reason is because he has not been found dead.
That’s not a reason.
B
http://www.statecollege.com/mobile/news/local-news/judge-refuses-to-disqualify-stacy-parks-miller-da-appoints-personal-lawyer-as-special-assistant-district-attorney,1463552/
very close (even closer than Patty) & Gricar did not inform
Sloane of what was on his mind that last week? Imo it
involved work.
Agreed.
B
@JJinPhila. You say Parks & Gricar exchanged emails the day before he disappeared.
Did your rtk involve their content?
Was she an ADA at that time, or private practice?
—–
I do believe you are right on the Castor thing.
On reflection his Oath means he can be fully briefed on all ongoing investigations involving the BoC, Glantz, & others.
And if criminal charges are warranted wrt any elected official, from a judge to a commissioner, he can file them.
how smart it was to administer the Oath only 2 hours before the hearing.
in a private home, not the Courthouse.
the electric slide from the filing process to
McGraw-Masorti and/or Glantz had no time
to react before Blake’s hearing.
@Rose, Sloane was recuperating from his accident and was out of the office.
Sloane actually was a close friend prior to his second marriage and throughout his relationship to Patty.
I have noticed a faltering memory. A newspaper article, quoted Sloane as talking to police sent by Parks Miller’s review panel. Today, he claimed Parks Miller never “pricked my brain.” There was at lest one other similar situation. Sloane’s been through a lot, however.
@Rose, in regard to the commissioners, the are getting their legal advice from their solicitor. They have now seen fit to bring in a special attorney for RTK requests. It is a tacit acknowledgement that it being handled properly.
@JJinPhila. actually, on video minutes in a Jan BoC mtg, iirc the date of the first group of attorney hires, Glantz stated he & Boyde had been guided by Craig’s advice last fall wrt the first rtk requests. Glantz further said the County might retain him at some point.
In 2014 Craig provided counsel to Glantz & Boyde without charge, per Glantz on film, & there was no retainor agreement.
This formal hiring & retainor agreement is merely to shield Craig from subpoena (it created an atty-client relationship) in the suits against the County wrt the counsel he provided Glantz & Boyde last year, and the extent to which they followed it,
most particularly hus testimony would be sought by 3 plaintiffs wrt the timeline–whether Glantz spoke to him on rtk matters before Masorti & Cantorna filed their initial requests (which would be circumstantial evidence Glantz coached the 2 defense attys).
I call there was a previous reminder SS was on leave at the time.
However SS depicts them as unusually close & socializing in each others’ homes on a weekly basis.
A review of his accident:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/04/ray_gricar_mystery.html
Yesterday SS claimed he was interviewed by police for 4 hrs at the car by the river. However this article points out
the nephew & several others were there & interviewed at the same time. I doubt his factual unreliability at present is
memory slippage alone. His writings show cognitive damage which I suggest likely occured at the time of the car accident. (one wonders with all that tailgating if it was a dui). One wonders 5 yrs after the accident how much leave was still being taken, & did it continue under Madeira. It could be he was kept on to maintain his health ins.
correction above: I REcall …
@Rose, Sloane was up there after the car was found. The nephew once mentioned how difficult it was for Sloane too get there due to his injuries.
The thing with Sloane is that what I’ve been able to check out, he tends to be accurate.
L Marshall is a dui specialist as well
http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/16801-pa-lance-marshall-1843052.html
The article link I posted said he was taken to the car for interview with the nephew & several others.
His recent post said he himself went to the car to be interviewed for 4 hours.
It was kind of insane of PD to a group interview in that open lication allowing each witness to overhear the others.
It’s not like SPM to overlook Exarchos’ son’s role in the murder case, and maybe she was still investigating & charges remained possible, & he was tipped. That offers motive to paint her as having a conflict of interest wrt criminal charges filed against any member of his immediate family.
PFUR’s site rant on Castor (& secondarily broadcast by the –in my opinion by now — sleazy CIOC’s) shows an astonishing lack of knowledge of litigation practitioners in a country bigger than his across the pond, as well as lack of knowledge of the business practices of US Town & County Councilors. Perhaps those in Britain are county squires who stay put in country houses. He is simply ignorant. He faults Castor for litigating in a County outside of where he resides. Most law firm litigators do so not only all over a State but also, depending on their practices, cross-country & abroad, temporarily decamping for weeks at a time in hotel rooms. It does not impact their legal residence. Most County Commissioners or Town Councilors, if their electorate is lucky, are accomplished lawyers or businessmen and travel for work. As long as they chair their committees, and show up for Commissioner’s mtgs, mostly, no issue. The best man on my town council is an attorney-arbitrator with a high-level national practice. He makes most mtgs, & he is more competent than any of the rest. Another is a prominent businessowner & consequently travels. I will have to label PFUR posts “Simple Simon’s Screeds”
JJ, read SS’s comments today on COIC.
I would love to ask Sloane when and how he came into possession of Gricar’s Dictaphone.
@Erose, it was Sloane’s Dictaphone, and he took it when fired. It was not Gricar’s. The famous 10/13/98 meeting reference was his comment, not Gricar’s.
@Rose, It is fairly common, in my area, for attorney’s to be licensed in PA and NJ (and/or DE). Cross county practices are the rule, not the exception.
The problem with criticizing Parks Miller’s legal ability is that she emerged as probably the top defense attorney in Centre County prior to being elected DA. In one case, she delivered Sloane a huge defeat in court on the high profile “Mifflin streak” case. Sloane was a particularly strong prosecutor at the time.
@erose. Anything he’d say today about that would hyperinflate his own role,
overidentify with Gricar, and go off topic & curse SPM from Clearfield Cty playing
melons with Bill Shaw in Caps, “allegedly.”
TY for that hustory.
It bothers me SPM is being blamed for County legal costs by the defense cabal & minions bbecause the BoCs, alongside Glantz, created this entire situation, then voted themselves defense attorneys. At any time Glantz coukd gave met with Kustler & the former Court Admin & asked a rule be promulgated barring cell use by judges during working hours while they are at the Courthouse, except for immediate family members.
JJ, Why do you say it was Sloane’s Dictaphone?
snip>
Steve Sloane, who is considered to be one of Gricar’s only close friends in Centre County, said he kept Gricar’s Dictaphone on his own desk for years after the disappearance. Gricar used it to take notes about cases, which he would later ask a secretary to type into memos, Sloane said.
Sloane told The Patriot-News he had thrown the tape and Dictaphone into a desk with other stuff and forgotten about it until he began to clean for a move.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/04/ray_gricar_mystery.html
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/04/looking_back_at_ray_gricar_on.html#incart_river_mobile
erose, it was Sloane who was using it, however. The voice on it was Sloane’s.
JJ, Totally his voice, I agree. I am just wondering when and how it came into his possession. 1998? Why would Gricar go without his Dictaphone for 7 more years? Did Sloane get it in 2005? After Gricar went missing? Before? Somewhere in between ’98 and ’05? Curious.
@erose. an interesting question.
Altho we know by niw these articles are often filled with factual errors, taking it as tho it is accurate (url above), we learn:
“Steve Sloane, who is considered to be one of Gricar’s only close friends in Centre County, said he kept Gricar’s Dictaphone on his own desk for years after the disappearance. Gricar used it to take notes about cases, which he would later ask a secretary to type into memos, Sloane said.
Sloane told The Patriot-News he had thrown the tape and Dictaphone into a desk with other stuff and forgotten about it until he began to clean for a move.
The hour-long recording is mostly inaudible. However, Sloane’s own voice says this on the tape:
“Oct. 13, 1998. Schreffler, Ralston, Sloane, Gricar. Investigation going to Penn State meeting. Ray. Fran Ganter. Ron Schreffler is taking us to the football building and I will finish this memo, Sue, and either Ray will type something, handwrite something or he’ll tell me to dictate this and I’ll give you the tape when we get back. Thanks.”
Schreffler was the lead investigator in the May 1998 Sandusky complaint. Ralston was a police officer who assisted in the case.
When contacted, Sloane said he could not remember or explain why Gricar would have a meeting at the football building in October — months after the case was closed.
He also wasn’t sure if it was related to Sandusky or another case.”
My takeaway:
1) Gricar regularly & routinely used the dictaphone to make case notes. He would give tapes to Sue to type.
2) If he did not dictate, Gricar hand wrote notes. He did not use his computer in 1990s for that purpose.
3) One tape made by SS at Gricar’s request was like a voice memo telling Sue where they were at. (Note: State Police should review all charges between the June Sandusky investigation closing and the end of 1998 (but particularly in Sept & early Oct) to determine if any were on a football player, dropped or prosecuted. If not, this was a Sandusky mtg. In June 1998, school was out; Paterno could have been at the shore. This could have been a followup with Paterno after school began.
3) SS appropriated the dictaphone & used untyped tape from Gricar & put it in his own desk after the disappearance, tho he himself did not routinely use it. What other “stuff” of Gricar’s did he take as well? Other used tapes? Why did he not turn all of Gricar’s office possessions over to investigators? This is additionally strange behavior as SS was on leave. He would’ve had to make an effort and go in. Did he do it tgat first weekend before the PD came to the Office & found the Code book? Moreover in 2005, 5 years after the car smashup, he was an oxycodone addict & probably medical mj too (his own statement in 2011). Who was his supplier all those years? Did Gricar play a pipeline role?
4) Despite his injury & oxy use, SS continued “tailgating,” referring to one with Gricar in the 18 mos between 2001 & early 2003 (end of Emily & movein with Oatti).
5) When he disappeared, he’d only lived with Patti 2 years. That’s hardly a longterm relationship.
I don’t credit at all erose that an older man, set in his ways, did without his dictaphone for case notes to be typed by Sue between 1998 & 2005. It was his habitual MO. I believe Sloane took it & other things after his disappearance as SS said, and he would have had to come in while on leave to do so. .
——
Would this criminal public defender interviewed by Bellefont PD & quoted by Pennlive have been Marshall or mcGraw?
“A courthouse colleague in the public defender’s office told investigators that Gricar had been asking about hard-drive-erasing software as he prepared for his upcoming retirement”
I don’t credit at all his story that a DA, who is supposed to be mega reticuent & virtually friendless but for SS (per Sloane), would have randomly asked criminal defense attorneys while at the Courthouse how to erase his harddrive.
——
SS himself would have been comfortable & likely imo to go to Gricar’s Office that Sat or Sun to open that Code book & read what the disappearance neant for his office. I consider that more likely than Gricar looking things up & leaving that book open.
“When Gricar’s deputies got to the office the Monday after he disappeared, the county code book was sitting on the desk of an assistant district attorney. It eerily opened to the page describing what to do if a sitting district attorney is missing or dies.”
—–
One key question is the dates of those computer searches for hard drive destruction. Must’ve been relatively recent for history not to have been erased. Any employee of the office coukd have done the search. Was it on a weekend? The day before the disappearance? Looks like staging.
My own take is that because the laptop accompanied him on the drive, when Patti said it usually remained in the closet disused, the Master of Geicar’s disposition more likely than not was admitted to his home that morning as a trusted friend or colleague, explained to Gricar he was going for a ride and to grab his laptop, and was in the car with him when he called Patti. Acter hus disposition to leave car & laptop in their places. It would also explain the passenger smoker.
The question then becomes, who dished the most red herrings–dames, depression, “take off” signs, “witness protection,” promulgated a suicide theory, and so on.
We do know that after 2000, SS was on leave off & on apparently for 5 years, even still so in 2005, and per SS was an oxy addict. Moreover he ambulated with difficulty. And he moved Gricar’s dictaphone, tape, & other unknown possessions to his own control. I find the latter unusual behavior. It should have been provided to police, then become the property of interim DA Smith.
Is it possible Gricar’s very close friend had confronted him about drug use, about extended leaves, about future employment, and gotten a bad reaction?
Last paragr should read Had Gricar confronted “friend” Sloane?
If Gricar was retiring in a few months, he knew office days would also be numbered for
an ADA who needed leave a lot & was a substance addict when a new DA came in,
unless he changed. Sloane was a preretirement loose end.
It seems to me the closer attorneys to Gricar might have been D Grine or C Brown.
CYA had to certify any sex abuse of a minor report as “founded” & keep an open case file for further investigation or “close” as “unfounded” within 30 days if PA’s regs were like other States’ agencies. Once CYA closed it, Gricar could not keep his open, thus imo the June closing. That does not mean RG and Schreffler ceased to look into these matters, to include a mtg at PSU. It is odd SS claims not to remember the target & substance of the meeting at the football bldg, as imo that would be an unusual trip for the 2 attorneys to make together with a good-sized team. A sex abuse claim on Sandusky should be hard to forget.
I wonder if Arnold had been elected what SS’s fate would have been?
@erose, I’ve had the impression the both used it. As has been report, Sloane was involved in the 1998 investigation after Arnold was removed from the case.
Sloane and I disagree and argue at times, but I have ultimately found him trustworthy.
@Rose, I know the back story regarding the defense attorney. I wish I shed some light on it, publicly, but it someone Gricar had dealt with for quite a while and I believe he did inquire. I think the attorney came forward.
As for Sloane’s supplier of oxycodone, it would be his pharmacist. It was a prescription. He had gotten it due to his injury.
The first people that raised the suicide theory were the Gricar nephews, which was understandable as the father, Ray’s brother, was a suicide, by jumping in a river. Grica’s change in demeanor was noted by numerous people, except Sloane. Witness protection came off the Internet and walkaway began to slowly form in the papers, especially after July 2005 with the Texas signting.
For me, my sticking point that Gricar may have facilitated a voluntary disappearance after extensive research was the Michigan sighting by a very credible witness and frankly- the initial press conf we all agree was a debacle. My takeaway from that – was that even those closest to him believed it was possible. That has weight for me EXCEPT after some years of further training in victim behavior and coping patterns- it is a preferred reaction of loves ones at the onset of the egregious stress of the situation and the fear that the individual is actually deceased. In other words- it is more organic than evidence-based. I found Roy’s suicide circumstances vague- but statistical given what is known. We know that at the time, if Ray felt there was foul play involved he would not have let it rest, imo.
I had brief interaction with JKA- and I will say in a general sense there was a change in Gricar’s demeanor, and what she is/was adamant about was that EVERYONE she ever interacted with following, was resolute that Gricar was not coming back and she found that odd. Almost as if an abrupt resignation was the same as a mysterious disappearance of a 20 year prosecutor and elected official. I have to say- in that regard as a PA resident that it does offend me that given Gricar’s service- that this case seems to have zero priority.
Lastly- a thing about eyewitness accounts. They are egregiously flawed. Nobody will tell you this in LE, but well trained investigators are trained to disregard them without evidentiary corroboration or as an example- proceed as it they did not exist until corroboration. I have had numerous training sessions and courses with investigators side by side and I do not believe to date that a single session ever produced a same account as a working example. If that isn’t enough- study Jennifer Thompson/Ronald Cotton case.
Lastly (er)- this reminds me a great deal of the McStay case. MULTIPLE levels of LE concluded it was likely the family ended up in Mexico voluntarily- or AT LEAST the Mom and kids. Nearly 4 years later they are all found in the desert- murdered the day they went missing. Unfortunately, not in the desert, but I believe Gricar suffered a similar fate.
B
@Rose, You have outlined many of my own questions.
@JJ, I have no reason to doubt it, but your statement begs the question trustworthy about what?
@Rose, I agree, so if the Dictaphone was back in Gricar’s possession in October 1998 after the PSU meeting, then what do you make of the tape that obviously never made it to Sue.
“Sloane told The Patriot-News he had thrown the tape and Dictaphone into a desk with other stuff and forgotten about it until he began to clean for a move.”
snip>
I don’t credit at all erose that an older man, set in his ways, did without his dictaphone for case notes to be typed by Sue between 1998 & 2005. It was his habitual MO. I believe Sloane took it & other things after his disappearance as SS said, and he would have had to come in while on leave to do so. .
Rose says:
April 13, 2015 at 4:32 am
It’s weird because SS could have easily destroyed that tape.
I typed in Steve Sloane Bellefonte 2095 & got a several page google barf out of articles on cases from the collegian:
http://m.collegian.psu.edu/topic/?q=assistant+district+attorney+steve+sloane&l=25&sd=asc&app%5B0%5D=editorial&o=0
I was looking for football players charged in 2005 (so seriously that DA Office team went to the footbal hanger)
that mite be coming to trial in 2007. Traveling, I have only skimmed/cursory, but on 05-07 SS seemed to plead out
a lot, drop charges, & ask for minimal sentences (ie 90 days) for serious crimes.
PA DUI Blog
http://www.paduiblog.com/pa-dui/does-bruce-castors-association-with-centre-county-district-attorney-stacy-parks-miller-rightfully-raise-eyebrows-is-castors-acceptance-of-being-appointed-as-a-special-deput/
@erose. one wonders if he went to C Baldwin’s alma mater.
@Blink, as for witnesses in the Gricar case, I look for a few things.
A. Are the witnesses themselves credible? Could they see what they said saw? Do they have any impairments that would raise about their veracity? Do they have a motive to lie about what they saw?
B. Is there corroboration from independent witnesses? Did the witnesses communicate with each other or read about an account in the press? Did Witness A know that there was a Witness B.
C. Is there evidence that corroborates the witness? Where his belongings found near where a witness saw him? Was some physical trace found in that area? To a lesser extent, would it be logical for the person witnessed to be at that location?
In a hypothetical:
1. Witness A saw a man he identifies as Sam (from a photo) walking north on the 500 block of North Main Street at about 11:30 AM.
2. At about noon, Witness B saw a man identified as Sam (from a photo) standing on the 1000 block of North Main Street.
3. Neither Witness A or Witness B knew about the other.
4. Sam’s hat was found on a bench on the 1000 block of North Main Street.
5. A bloodhound responded to Sam’s scent a few doors south from where Sam’s hat was found.
In that case I would conclude, at take it as fact, that Sam went up North Main Street between 11:30 AM and noon.
In terms of 4/15, there are independent witnesses that put Gricar in Lewisburg that corroborate each other, physical evidence (the car, his scent) that also put him there. It is also logical for him to be there, as he had Googled the route within a week.
Now, based on what has been released, I would not say that about 4/16/05.
There are additional sightings that put him there that follow day, but the witnesses released are not independent and the physical evidence could have from the previous day.
If I were just going by eyewitness testimony, Gricar was alive on 4/16/05 and in Lewisburg. I am NOT willing to say that.
@JJinPhila. wrt “As for Sloane’s supplier of oxycodone, it would be his pharmacist. It was a prescription. He had gotten it due to his injury.”
In 2011, SS had an 11 year issue. True oxy addicts, which SS stated he was, do not rely on
their own prescriptions. You must admit he was receiving oxy from a Calif supplier?
” erose says:
April 13, 2015 at 10:02 pm
It’s weird because SS could have easily destroyed that tape.”
and
“what do you make of the tape that obviously never made it to Sue”
I doubt what was on it was related to Sandusky or any other case.
To me it is best evidence in 1998 RG said “tell Sue where we’re going,” and he did.
SS it would be RG who’d dictate (not on same tape), handwrite or type mtg notes.
So imo when Sue returned the tape to him, he stuck it in his drawer for reuse. It’s
having not been re-recorded is best evidence SS rarely used the dictaphone.
As for the mtg, I doubt it was related to any case. Imo the mtg occurred at the location of the requesting party as host.
If a case had been under discussion, a DA would have hosted at his office. If it were investigatory, Scheffler would have sufficed. My guess is the football program (AD and JP) wanted to discuss administrative procedures and cooperation when athletes were charged–notification to the program etc. The nature of the DA team & location suggests an administrative process mtg. My guess is the AD in 1998 would have sent a memo upstairs about the mtg & its outcome.
@JJinPhila. I don’t have the cite but recently I read “witness protection” arose from one newspaper accessing his FBI fike which inckuded CIA informant information. (perhaps wrt E European relatives?) And didn’t one newspaper article attribute that idea to SS?
@Blink. You distilled “walk away” is a not infrequent defense mechanism of the bereaved.
Remembering Bellefonte PD & Court-based colleagues were among the bereaved.
Was not referring to them specifically, but they likely take cues from those closest to him as well, however, I feel overall it seems that those colleagues have remained indifferent.
B
Those Commissioners.
at the moment,
No agenda for tomorrow.
No video minutes of last week,
when they hired another lawyer for themselves.
Usually the video has gone up in 2-3 days.
http://centrecountypa.gov/agendacenter
BoC is Coached by a fine fellow Republican.
http://www.centredaily.com/2015/04/14/4701524/former-centre-county-assistant.html
no agenda for this mtg.
perhaps the video worked this week.
@Rose, three things.
Arnold is, or was, a registered Democrat. However, in 2009, she ran against Parks Miller for the Democratic nomination, and came in a distant third to her. In the fall of 2009, she endorsed her opponent, the incumbent Madeira.
I did not get the information on the e-mail exchange between Parks Miller and Gricar from a RTK request. She, well before she ran for DA, mentioned it in a comment on a CDT article.
The CIA indicated that something was redacted: “The Central Intelligence Agency, responding to an FBI name check request, advised that they have [REDACTED] relating to the captioned individual.” I’ve theorized that Gricar might have part of a program the CIA has to debrief individuals returning from foreign countries about conditions in those countries. The ask about observations during the trip.
Sloane has never suggested that Gricar was in the CIA, but he did suggest Ukraine as place where Gricar might have gone.
I have those docs somewhere- as I recall that was part of a standard background check for clearance. It is customary for individuals who maintain international ties of any kind to include that info and the CIA’s protocol of same is almost entirely classified- AND it does not HAVE to state same in a publicly released doc.
I would say that IF ( and I do not believe this) Gricar disappeared himself- I submit the very limited resources ever attached to his case did not include standard interpol flags that I am aware of- and I should also remind everyone Gricar was declared dead, legally.
B
from CIOC Comments on her defense attorney McGraw’s
statement :
“Michelle Shutt
Yesss!”
Posted about 7 pm.
Each time she comments in this vein on the problems
of her criminal defense attorneys it looks more & more
like the forgery allegation was part & parcel of the concurrent
Cantorna, Masorti, & McGraw’s RTK requests for SPM & 3 judges phone recirds.
At the very same time Shutt
keft another job and established a private paralegal business and advertise for
attorney clients….in the plural, while Masorti claimed he
employed her. I don’t see how she can establish her accusation
as separate from her pecuniary interests in
this attorney group she was seeking, & obtained, work from.
Personally, my takeaway (if allegations are true and I believe they are or this was never the shot heard round the world) is she is unemployable in the legal field. I would never work with someone that thought it ok ethically to do what was asked knowing through her training (via online or whatnot) it might be illegal or most certainly outside the range of the DA’s scope… and then turn around and through a new employer in criminal defense use that information in the way that she has- and then expect that person to be ethically and morally desirable as a para in my firm or consult-
B
Who knew that Weaver was Fornicola’s intern in the ’80′s.
From an outsider looking in, it appears as though there are just too many personal and professional relationships among the people investigating this case, or contributing insights for anything to be considered objective.
For example; Fornicola would have been a top suspect on any investigator’s list, and you have to wonder how Weaver went about ruling her out. I am not suggesting she did this, I am stating that it seems protocols could have been breached.
By saying this I feel it is interpreted that I suggest some sort of conspiracy. That defensive nature I believe impedes finding the truth. A fact cannot be a fact, it is interpreted to mean [insert Centre County local reason] followed by anecdote.
I am referring to the articles and blogs as an example from the article;
“We should’ve heard from him by now,” he remembered thinking. “Patty would be getting up wondering ‘Where’s Ray?’ and he’d have to lie to her and say the car broke down, I slept in the car and my cell phone battery was dead. He’d have to have some explanation for her.” – Darrel Zaccagni
Implying that RG is a lair and a cheater. Maybe he was, but is it a fact that Zaccagni knows to be Gricar’s MO, or is he theorizing? If her regularly cheated on PF, then that would be a fact, and a motive, why stop short?
This is CC’s lore now, part legacy and part water cooler chatter and JJ just so you know I’m googling O’Kicki, so I am standing around the water cooler, too. It’s just a shame the level of detail RG reportedly extended to his victims was not extended to him. As stated by Weaver in the article:
“People say you need to go back through all of his cases,” said Weaver, “but have you seen them all? No department has the resources to do that.”
Why not ask for outside resources? He was after all a officer of the federal court as well and his disappearance should have been of concern to our country, not just CC. Family shouldn’t investigate family, right?
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/04/ten_years_later_ray_gricars_di.html
1. Zaccagni has/had no business being assigned this case nor did Bellefont PD. As an elected official this should have been handled and outsourced by Corbett’s office. I am all for the FBI taking any cases involving an elected official whose office receives Federal support of any kind.
2. Weaver’s commentary is silly, but true initially. However, to your concise point- in 15 years and 3 agencies and a task force does not have the resources to review standard protocol than somebody better find some that can. That is outrageous. He was the chief LEO of the county for 20 years. Pizzes me off every time I think about it.
B
http://www.centredaily.com/2015/04/15/4702008/gricar-left-lasting-legal-legacy.html
This article plus comment remind me how like Gricar SPM is professionally as a DA,
except she is female. It seems a female DA’s private sexual life is at issue but the male’s was not.
Gricar was never accused of forging a judges signature or using office staff for campaign use. Personally I don’t give a rip about SPM private sex life unless it interfered with her elected duties and unless that could be proven has no place in coverage. She’s an adult.
B
http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/ten-years-after-ray-gricars-disappearance-the-mystery-remains-unsolved,1463595/
The Hard drive was not found 100mi away, what is he talking about?
B
http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/centre-county-asks-court-to-dismiss-das-lawsuit,1463579/
Interesting position on personal suit v DA status- there are very different benchmarks and the most important one would be who pays counsel and if she is entitle to compensatory damages.
B
And I don’t think Gricar would’ve hired an no-experience online grad as a para,
or fired her within a couple years. He’d have found another Courthouse job for her
then maybe slept with her.
A sole person who had been terminated, with no
corroboration, made the accusation
after she lost her second job in a year
(with 3 children & a new adored house
to pay for & furnish with a pinterest wish list),
& she was soliciting free lance work from
the same criminal defense attorneys already
attacking SPM & judges on rtk grounds. The RTK
campaign began 3 months before the forgery affidavit.