HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania's attorney general will appeal a federal judge's decision to vacate the child-endangerment conviction of former Penn State President Graham Spanier.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the decision Wednesday, a day after U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick ruled Spanier was improperly charged under a 2007 law for actions that occurred in 2001.
Mehalchick gave Shapiro's office three months to retry Spanier, who had been convicted for how he responded in 2001 to a complaint about former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky showering with a boy.
Shapiro says federal courts have limited power to act in state criminal cases, and argues Mehalchick exceeded that authority.