Matt Sandusky, who told the public during the trial that his father sexually abused him, too, was one of the men who filed a civil lawsuit against Penn State alleging its officials – including coaching legend Joe Paterno – did not act on information they received regarding Jerry Sandusky’s abuse.
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The first day of an appeals hearing for Jerry Sandusky is over, after the former Penn State assistant coach insisted he is innocent of child molestation charges, and his lawyers described key decisions that were made before and during his 2012 trial.
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.
Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys and sentenced to decades in state prison.
“Sandusky will testify”, on Friday, said Alexander Lindsay, Sandusky’s current lawyer. “Amendola didn’t suggest any questions they might ask”, Sandusky testified.
Lindsay says Sandusky should have had a preliminary hearing, and Rominger agreed.
The 72-year-old was photographed smiling as he walked into the Centre County Courthouse for the appeals hearing in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
Another major topic during the hearing was an interview Sandusky gave to NBC’s Bob Costas shortly after his arrest. “That (sexual contact with children) is disgusting and dirty, and something that I never would have thought of, and something that I never did with anybody”.
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.
Sandusky also addressed his decision not to testify on his own behalf at trial.
The attorney general’s office stands by the outcomes of the 2012 trial and called Sandusky’s claims “meritless”. The other two dates are August 22 and 23.
“There is probably no more fundamental right than a defendant in a criminal trial to testify and tell a jury ‘I did not do this, ‘” Lindsay said after the hearing.
Sandusky said he wasn’t familiar with the court process and relied on his lawyers for advice. But he testified Friday that he warned Sandusky that taking the stand could be perilous after Sandusky’s adopted son Matt alleged to investigators midway through the trial that Sandusky had abused him.
Sandusky founded a charity for at-risk children where prosecutors say he recruited victims.
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“Mr Sandusky will submit that he did not start The Second Mile in order to groom victims”, his attorneys said in appeal filings.
