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密歇根新闻广播 与拉里·纳萨尔有关文件为何迟迟不交

时间:2021-04-01 07:21来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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State Attorney General Dana Nessel says she's committed to investigating Michigan State University's role in Larry Nassar's serial1 sexual abuse.

Nessel says comments from a spokesperson in her office that the investigation2 was suspended were "inadvertently misleading."

The state has won a conviction of one school official, former College of Osteopathic Medicine dean (and Nassar's former boss) William Strampel. Former president Lou Anna Simon is scheduled to head to trial on charges that she lied to police about what she knew about Nassar.

The attorney general's office remains3 at an impasse4 with MSU over the release of more than 6,000 documents. The school says the information in those documents is protected under attorney-client privilege.

For more on this story, we're republishing Kate Wells' February 2019 piece about the dispute.

Original post: Feb. 6, 2019

Michigan State University is still refusing to hand over some 6,000 internal documents to special investigators6, saying they’re protected under attorney-client privilege. Ironically, those are the same investigators the trustees actually requested to come look into the Nassar case last year.

“Only a review by your office can resolve the questions in a way that the victims, their families, and the public will deem satisfactory and that will help all those affected7 by Nassar’s horrible crimes to heal,” the trustees said in a letter last January to then-Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. “...We stand fully8 ready to cooperate with your review.”

Well, not so much, according to the man who did that investigation. Not when trustees are denying investigators access to those 6,000 internal documents.

“Sometimes in life, in my mind, things are more important than money and finances,” prosecutor9 Bill Forsyth told reporters in December, when he was wrapping up his job as the AG’s independent special counsel who looked into MSU for nearly a year. “And in this case, the survivors10 and the public, I think, deserve to know what happened here.”

One reporter asked Forsyth: so, what if MSU never waives12 attorney-client privilege and releases the documents? We just never find out what happened?

“You’re never going to know,” Forsyth said. “It’s very simple. There is nothing you can do to change that.”

What’s in these documents?

So what’s so special about these 6,000 documents that MSU won’t turn them over to investigators?

That’s what we asked Trustee Dan Kelly at a January board meeting.

His answer: those documents don’t have anything to do with the facts of the Nassar case.

“First of all, when we assert the attorney-client privilege, it’s with regard to the opinions of the [school’s] attorneys,” Kelly says. “It’s not with regard to the factual basis. We turned over the factual documentation, we certainly turned over all of our digital information, cell phones and so forth13.”

Let’s break that down.

Legally, only documents where a client is seeking legal advice, or the attorney is actually providing legal advice, are covered under attorney-client privilege.

So Kelly’s saying that those 6,000 documents are just a bunch of legal discussions, not anything “factual” or specifically related to who knew what about Larry Nassar, and when.

But if there’s nothing to hide, why not just be fully transparent14 and release them to the special investigators?

Two words: insurance litigation.

“Well, when we’re suing, when we’re in litigation with an insurance company, I don’t believe the insurance company is entitled to the legal opinions of our attorneys,” Kelly said. “I don’t believe they are.”

MSU’s high stakes legal battle

Ok, “insurance litigation” is not the sexiest reason. But go with this, because it gets interesting.

Remember last spring, when MSU settled with more than 300 of Nassar’s survivors for $500 million? And then everybody wondered, where the heck was MSU going to get that kind of money, not to mention the millions of dollars in ongoing15 legal bills?

Well, Michigan State University sure hopes the answer is: insurance. Specifically, its insurance for sexual assault cases.

Did you know Michigan State carries sexual assault insurance? It sure does. Also insured: drones. Athletes with traumatic brain injuries? You bet. Terrorism? Sure.

And, right there on page 11 of MSU’s policy with insurer United Educators, it lists “sexual molestation16, sexual assault, or rape” in its coverage17.

Except, according to MSU’s lawsuit18, none of its insurance carriers are paying a dime19 for the Larry Nassar cases thus far.

“No Defendant20 Insurer has paid any amounts whatsoever21 to reimburse22 MSU for costs incurred23 in connection with the defense24 and settlement of MSU’s liability arising out of Nassar’s conduct,” the school’s attorneys argued in the suit filed in July.

So this lawsuit is MSU’s way of saying: pay up, insurance companies.

If MSU didn’t report Nassar, then no insurance money

But, like all insurance policies, there’s some fine print in the school’s sexual assault policies. If you look at the United Educators policy, there are two crucial loopholes.

Loophole #1: If a school leader or mandatory25 reporter knew about Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse, but didn’t report it to the “proper authorities,” then the insurance carrier is off the hook. MSU is “excluded” from coverage in this case.

Loophole #2: If the school finds out about Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse, but they don’t tell the insurance carrier right away, then, the same thing: the insurance carrier doesn’t have to pay a dime.

In other words, insurers lose a lot of money if they have to cover MSU’s legal bills in the Nassar case. So they have a lot of motivation to prove MSU either hid Larry Nassar’s abuse from authorities, or from insurers.

Just like Michigan State University would also have a lot of motivation to try keep that kind of evidence from insurers. Which is where the 6,000 internal documents come back into play.

“Unless there are things they’re hiding…”

If there is no cover-up, no smoking gun, then why would these documents hurt the school in its insurance lawsuit?

“I guess I don’t quite understand that,” newly-elected MSU Trustee Kelly Tebay said last month. “Unless, like you said, there are things they’re hiding. Which I haven’t seen yet, but those are really things that we, as an institution, as leadership, need to look at.

“I feel very strongly about setting a tone that...if you’re part of that culture of, you know, you have an employee that files a complaint, and you somehow find a way to cover that up? If that’s found out, you’re out,” Tebay said. “If there’s a way for us to clean house, if you don’t want to be part of this new Michigan State, then it’s time for you to go.”

But how much money is transparency worth?

Here’s the conundrum26, though: if there is no cover-up, and the 6,000 documents really are just a bunch of legal advice that might give the insurers a leg up in court, is it worth MSU releasing them and potentially losing millions of dollars?

That’s what Brianna Scott is trying to figure out. Like Tebay, she’s also a newly elected MSU trustee.

“I just met with Rachael Denhollander, and she was saying the same thing: short of releasing these things, people are probably never going to be completely satisfied,” Scott said in January.

“But we also have a fiduciary27 duty to not do that, at the risk that we lose the money to keep the school going. If we were to be excluded [by the insurance companies] based on some exclusionary28 requirements that MSU maybe didn’t do, or people they needed to contact at a certain time, or little tiny technicalities like that - if we were to lose $500 million because of things like that, we have to weigh whether or not that’s worth it.”

Scott is hoping there’s a third option: maybe the three new trustees could go through the 6,000 internal documents themselves, and assure the public that “it has nothing to do with any of the things they think...are being hidden.”

Scott says she knows that’s not a perfect solution. Even if survivors felt they could trust the new trustees, they may not know what to look for. Only the independent special counsel (the investigator5 in the AG’s office) knows what a smoking gun would look like, because only the special counsel has done a year-long investigation involving hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents.

So far, those investigators have built criminal cases against former MSU employees, including former president Lou Anna Simon, with evidence that might seem totally innocuous out of context: emails or meeting agendas with a few handwritten notes, for instance.

Scott says that’s why MSU may want to hire a special investigator. That way, as an MSU employee, the investigator could examine those 6,000 documents without MSU having to waive11 attorney-client privilege. Maybe, Scott says, the former special investigator himself, Bill Forsyth, would be willing to take the job?

“Maybe it is bringing in Bill Forsyth! Or maybe it’s bringing in somebody who worked with him,” Scott says. “But I’m just trying to find a happy medium, because I don’t think, as much as you may wish that they would completely waive privilege, I don’t see that happening.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 serial 0zuw2     
n.连本影片,连本电视节目;adj.连续的
参考例句:
  • A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
  • Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗?
2 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
3 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
4 impasse xcJz1     
n.僵局;死路
参考例句:
  • The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
  • Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。
5 investigator zRQzo     
n.研究者,调查者,审查者
参考例句:
  • He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
  • The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。
6 investigators e970f9140785518a87fc81641b7c89f7     
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
  • The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
8 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
9 prosecutor 6RXx1     
n.起诉人;检察官,公诉人
参考例句:
  • The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
  • The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。
10 survivors 02ddbdca4c6dba0b46d9d823ed2b4b62     
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
  • survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者
11 waive PpGyO     
vt.放弃,不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)
参考例句:
  • I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
  • In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况,他们同意放弃他们的要求。
12 waives 3dc42ba6619cb696796fac2e888582eb     
v.宣布放弃( waive的第三人称单数 );搁置;推迟;放弃(权利、要求等)
参考例句:
  • The surety waives in writing the right provided in the preceding paragraph. (三)保证人以书面形式放弃前款规定的权利的。 来自互联网
  • In exchange, the tribe waives claim to similar water rights on non federal and private lands. 作为交换,部落放弃非联邦河私人土地上的类似水权。 来自互联网
13 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
14 transparent Smhwx     
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的
参考例句:
  • The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明,可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
  • The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。
15 ongoing 6RvzT     
adj.进行中的,前进的
参考例句:
  • The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
  • The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。
16 molestation f7008a1bafc8cde16fe27be6848fdede     
n.骚扰,干扰,调戏;折磨
参考例句:
  • Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation. 2003年的今天,迈克尔·杰克逊因被警方指控有儿童性骚扰行为而被捕。 来自互联网
  • Jackson pleads not guilty on the molestation charges. 2004年:杰克逊认罪不认罪的性骚扰指控。 来自互联网
17 coverage nvwz7v     
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
参考例句:
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
18 lawsuit A14xy     
n.诉讼,控诉
参考例句:
  • They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
  • He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。
19 dime SuQxv     
n.(指美国、加拿大的钱币)一角
参考例句:
  • A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
  • The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。
20 defendant mYdzW     
n.被告;adj.处于被告地位的
参考例句:
  • The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
  • The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。
21 whatsoever Beqz8i     
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么
参考例句:
  • There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
  • All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样,你就怎样对人。
22 reimburse 5Vixt     
v.补偿,付还
参考例句:
  • We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
  • The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。
23 incurred a782097e79bccb0f289640bab05f0f6c     
[医]招致的,遭受的; incur的过去式
参考例句:
  • She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚,使父亲震怒。
  • We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。
24 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
25 mandatory BjTyz     
adj.命令的;强制的;义务的;n.受托者
参考例句:
  • It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
  • There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。
26 conundrum gpxzZ     
n.谜语;难题
参考例句:
  • Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
  • Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。
27 fiduciary AkFxB     
adj.受托的,信托的
参考例句:
  • A company director owes a fiduciary duty to the company.公司董事应对公司负责受托人责任。
  • He was acting in a fiduciary capacity.他以受托人身份行为。
28 exclusionary 7b922c7ff4e4ecd651577aafa4370540     
adj.排斥(性)的,排除在外的
参考例句:
  • Play not finish, uncle fidgeting, cut exclusionary. 戏未演完,叔父坐立不安,仓皇退席。 来自互联网
  • Procecutor: I am asking you to recognize the absurdity of the exclusionary rule. 检察官:我是在请求您认识到这个排除规则的荒谬性。 来自互联网
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