According to the Associated Press, the orange clad 72-year-old Sandusky showed up at a recent appeals hearing at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, telling the judge that he denies his 2012 conviction on the grounds that he never should have gone to jail.
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The hearing on Friday starts at 9:30 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.
He was sentenced to thirty to sixty years in prison. Sandusky plans to take the stand and try to prove his claim he was wrongly convicted four years ago of sexually abusing 10 boys.
The former Penn State assistant football coach testified for an hour during an appeals hearing in which he’s hoping to have his 45-count conviction thrown out or get a new trial.
Judge John Cleland has given Sandusky’s team a chance to make their case in three days of evidentiary hearings, the Patriot-News reported.
Sandusky also addressed his decision not to testify on his own behalf at trial.
Sandusky claims, among other things, that Amendola urged him to take part in an ill-advised TV interview with NBC’s Bob Costas that the prosecution later used against him at trial; that Amendola talked him into waiving a preliminary hearing that could have benefitted him at trial without adequately explaining the pros and cons; and that his lawyers, including Amendola, failed to pursue testimony from a then-alleged victim that Sandusky feels could have helped to clear his name, at least in part.
Sandusky, who is believed to have permanently marred the Penn State football program as well as the reputation of the once beloved Nittany Lions head football coach Joe Paterno, now denies having ever sexually abused the 10 boys for which he was formerly convicted.
Sandusky is seeking a new trial under Pennsylvania’s Post-Conviction Relief Act ineffective counsel provision, arguing his lawyers in the original trial did not provide his constitutionally-guaranteed robust defense. Since the scandal, Penn State has paid out $93m to 3o men who said Sandusky abused them.
During the trial, Amendola told jurors in his opening statement that they would hear from Sandusky.
Despite the damage to its reputation, some members of the Penn State family still cherish the years of coaching put forth by the late Joe Paterno.
Sandusky said he wasn’t familiar with the court process and relied on his lawyers for advice.
The hearing is expected to continue on August 22 and August 23.
Sandusky previously tried to appeal his sentence to the state’s supreme and superior courts but lost.
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One of Sandusky’s former attorneys who testified Friday said that legal team decided not to put Sandusky on the stand after Sandusky’s son came forth with his accusations.
