Joe Paterno's death will have an impact on the criminal cases against former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, Widener University associate professor of law Wes Oliver told the Daily News on Monday.

Paterno may have been a witness for the defense, Oliver says. Curley and Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report a crime.

Paterno told the grand jury that graduate assistant Mike McQueary gave him few details when he told the coach that he had seen longtime Penn State defensive coordinator assaulting a boy in a campus shower.

Because Paterno provided Curley and Schultz with limited information about the 2002 incident, defense attorneys could look at that as corroborating with the official's claim that they were not given all of the appropriate information about Sandusky's actions.

Paterno, obviously, is no longer available for the defense lawyers to call as a witness. The judge handling the case will now have to decide if Paterno's grand jury testimony can be entered as evidence.