Penn State asks judge to overturn verdict in defamation case

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) Penn State University is challenging a jury's $7.3 million award to a former assistant football coach in his defamation case against the university.

In court filings, attorneys for the school say Mike McQueary failed to prove the university defamed him after it became public that his testimony helped prosecutors charge Jerry Sandusky with child molestation.

Philly.com (http://bit.ly/2fN8Sue ) reports the university calls the jury's award last month ''excessive.''

McQueary claims he was defamed by a statement the school president released the day Sandusky was charged. He also says he was retaliated against for helping with the investigation and misled by school administrators.

Penn State argued McQueary's reputation was harmed by public opinion about his decision not to go to police or child-welfare authorities when he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a boy.

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Information from: Philly.com, http://www.philly.com/