Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, seeking to overturn his 2012 conviction as a serial sexual predator, denied the charges as “disgusting and dirty” Friday and testified that his original attorney misled him into giving a damning NBC interview on the eve of his original trial.
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Outside the courthouse, Lindsay said he hopes the evidence and testimony heard Friday will help sway senior judge John Cleland of McKean County to grant a new trial when the appeals hearings are complete.
“The 72-year-old is arguing he wasn’t properly represented by his legal team during a 2012 trial that ended with a 45-count conviction”.
He was convicted four years ago for sexually abusing 10 boys and was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison.
Eight young men testified at trial that they were abused as children by Sandusky, who spent decades at Penn State as an assistant coach under Joe Paterno before his retirement in 1999.
Sandusky had no comment Friday as he was taken into the Centre County Courthouse near State College.
Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky is expected to testify in court Friday. He’s serving a 30- to 60-year sentence.
Sandusky denied any sexual intercourse with the young men, saying the concept is totally foreign to him and disgusting and that he had never done it with anyone.
Amendola decided against allowing the former coach to take the stand in his own defense when Matt Sandusky made his disclosure, a decision that Jerry Sandusky and Lindsay now contend was ill-advised.
“I shouldn’t have showered with those kids”, Sandusky reportedly said when broadcaster Bob Costas asked if anything he did was wrong.
Lindsay acknowledged it wasn’t clear that Sandusky’s testimony would sway the outcome of the appeals process, but said there were other incentives, too.
Sandusky must convince the Pennsylvania court his trial counsel was so ineffective that it undermined the fairness of the proceedings.
Unfortunately for Sandusky, legal precedent does not seem to be on his side.
Among the issues are decisions not to have him testify at trial and how the defense responded to a surprise claim midway through the trial by an adopted son who says Sandusky molested him. He said he did not warn Sandusky that the interview could be used by prosecutors at trial, which is what occurred.
The hearing is expected to continue on August 22 and August 23.
Sandusky also argues that Amendola damaged his case by initially telling the jury that Sandusky would testify and then convincing his client at the last minute not to take the stand.
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