Effort to block ex-PSU attorney

The attorneys for former Pennsylvania State University administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz do not want the former university lawyer who testified against their clients anywhere near the witness stand at next month's preliminary hearing on charges they covered up abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky.

The defense has moved to preclude Cynthia Baldwin from testifying and filed the court papers this week in Harrisburg. They expect prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office to seek to have her testify at the preliminary hearing Dec. 13.

Curley and Schultz face charges of perjury and failure to report abuse and are set for trial in January.

Baldwin, a former university trustee and state Supreme Court justice, heard Curley and Schultz's grand jury testimony in January 2011, and the two men have said they were under the impression Baldwin was representing them.

Baldwin later said she was representing the university's interests.

The attorneys for Curley and Schultz have said Baldwin betrayed their clients when she testified to the grand jury, and they have accused her of violating attorney-client privilege. She testified it was evident to her that Curley and Schultz "extensively discussed" their own grand jury testimonies with university then-president Graham B. Spanier, who was also indicted in the alleged cover-up.

The attorneys said in the court papers their clients never waived the attorney-client privilege, so Baldwin should not have disclosed the information they had told her in confidence.

The defense attorneys asked for a quick decision. They also asked for a stay in the preliminary hearing in case they need to appeal to a higher court.

The attorneys for Curley, Schultz, and Spanier have maintained that their clients are innocent.