“At issue for Sandusky was the defense team’s decision not to have him testify four years ago, as well as the lawyers’ unanticipated response to a surprise claim, the AP noted, of “[Sandusky’s] adopted son who says Sandusky molested him”.
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Friday marked the first time in his years-long legal saga that Sandusky had the opportunity to do so, he claimed.
Sandusky, his lawyers wrote, ‘will testify regarding each accuser and deny that he committed the crimes alleged’.
Sandusky, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and white sneakers as he walked into the Centre County courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., accompanied by guards with his hands handcuffed, denied he is serial sexual predator, testifying he has never had oral or anal sex with anyone.
Formerly beloved Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, who passed away in 2012, was dragged through the mud at the end of his life for his role in allegedly not reporting direct knowledge of Jerry Sandusky’s improprieties to authorities.
The hearing is expected to continue on August 22 and August 23.
“That would be dirty and foreign to me”, Sandusky replied Friday when his lawyer asked about his guilt.
Sandusky also addressed his decision not to testify on his own behalf at trial. That bad advice, he said, included an interview he granted to Bob Costas on NBC. “I’ve comforted others, I’ve been comforted”. I’ve conformed, I’ve also been different. I love to be around them.
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.
He also testified by video during a January 2014 hearing to reinstate his $4,900-a-month pension.
Sandusky, who is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence at the Greene County prison, is seeking a retrial under Pennsylvania’s Post-Conviction Relief Act that applies to cases confined to newly discovered evidence, constitutional violations and ineffective lawyering.
Sandusky was accused of using his charity for at-risk youth to prey on victims.
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“We feel strongly that the claims laid out in his petition are meritless, and we intend to vigorously challenge those claims in court”, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office said in an e-mailed statement to the wire service. If Sandusky is successful his charges could be dismissed, but that’s less likely than the chance the judge could order a new trial. He lost previous appeals to the state Superior and Supreme courts.
