Was a whistleblower coach in Penn State sex abuse case a "public figure" for defamation purposes? Penn State claims he is - and that the judge was biased and acted as an advocate for the whistleblower.

Wow, wow, wow, wow - and one more WOW.

A brief has been filed by Penn State claiming BIAS by a judge?

What happened? 

Lawyers for Penn State lost all fear?

Judicial bias is usually never, ever, ever raised by attorneys in court - it is a most unforgiveable offense in the American courts to criticize a judge, often leading to attorneys being stripped of their attorney status and denied ability to get employed in any more or less gainful jobs, for life.

Reportedly, Penn State in its brief accused Judge Thomas Gavin of advocacy on behalf of the plaintiff.

The jury verdict that caused Penn State and its lawyers to forget the usual fear was in favor of a whistleblower, a coach at Penn State, in a defamation lawsuit which was allowed to go ahead of a criminal proceeding (and thus potentially influence the outcome of such criminal proceedings).

The whistleblower Michael McQueary allegedly reported to his superiors sexual abuse in Penn State football program back in 2001, while the officials did not pay attention to the sexual abuse, and, as a result, in the plaintiff's theory, Michael McQueary was seen as part of the problem 10 years later when the Sandusky scandal exploded.

Yet, one of the most important claims that Penn State is making that can yet help it win the case is not of judicial bias - judges rarely rule against their own brothers on such claims - but the claim that Judge Thomas Gavin refused to consider the plaintiff, an employee of a public university, a football coach, and a whistleblower in a high profile case, a public figure when Judge Gavin was giving instructions on the law to the jury.

It is likely that the jury would have been unable to return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff or to award any damages for him, had the plaintiff been considered a public figure, with the attendant elevated burden of proof on the plaintiff to prove not only all the elements of defamation, but that the false statements were made with actual malice in mind - a burden of proof that is very difficult, if at all possible to meet, and that could possibly have been impossible to meet under the circumstances of the case.

As it usually is in American courts, whenever the issue of sexual abuse is raised, the law disappears, and what appears is clear bias and partisanship of judges against anybody who is in any way even alleged to be implicated in condoning sexual abuse - which is nearly always unaccountable to the public and remains undisturbed on appeal.

Here, it appears that the judge really shed his supposed neutrality because of the subject of the case (sexual abuse in Penn State that was subject of a scandal) and could not bring himself to rule on the law, if ruling on the law (giving a correct instruction on the law) would result in a ruling favorable to the party the judge, and the public opinion, clearly did not like.

It is very interesting to see what the appellate court will rule on this particular issue, whether McQueary was or was not a "public figure" - which can potentially turn the jury verdict from $7.3 million to a zero.

And, on the subject of how whistleblowers of sexual abuse by high-standing public officials are treated by the public, as a matter of comparison, the multi-million verdict in favor of whistleblower of sexual abuse by a celebrity was in the state of Pennsylvania where sexual abuse in a state university resulted in a public scandal, civil lawsuits and criminal trials against those involved. 

And that is, once again, in the state of Pennsylvania, a state reeking of judicial corruption, a state that has recently first suspended, and then criminally convicted and disbarred, through crooked judicial proceedings, its own Attorney General for investigating misconduct of judges and prosecutors.

Yet, apparently, New York State is even worse.

New York suspended in 2008, and continues suspension of attorney John Aretakis who brought actions for sexual abuse against Catholic church.

So, multi-million dollar verdicts for whistleblower celebrity against sexual abuse at Penn State, and a suspension of a law license and professional death for an attorney-whistleblower and civil rights defender against sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in New York...

As to the multi-million dollar verdict in question, I will continue to monitor the developments in this case, and especially on the issue whether the jury instruction that Michael McQueary was not a public figure for purposes of a defamation lawsuit, will be overturned on appeal.

Stay tuned.