Sandusky asks judge to postpone June 5 trial on abuse charges

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer on Wednesday asked for a delay in the former Penn State assistant football coach’s child sex-abuse trial, saying he needed more time to prepare and that he was still waiting for disclosure of prosecution material.

In a 13-page motion, defense attorney Joe Amendola wrote that without more time, he was worried he would be “unable to effectively and adequately” represent Sandusky. Amendola said he was still waiting for material from prosecutors.

Judge John Cleland has previously indicated he was reluctant to push back the trial, currently scheduled to begin June 5 in Bellefonte. A hearing on defense subpoenas and pretrial discovery disputes between the defense and prosecutors was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Cleland could, or would, rule on the new motion at the hearing.

read more: cbssports.com

Sandusky seeks 2-month delay in sex-abuse trial

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)—Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer on Monday asked the judge in his child sex-abuse case to delay the start of his criminal trial until mid-July, saying he needed more time to prepare.

Defense lawyer Joe Amendola said the additional two months would help him contact and interview witnesses, subpoena records and hire experts. Earlier this month, Judge John Cleland tentatively scheduled jury selection in the former Penn State assistant football coach’s trial to begin May 14, with jurors chosen from State College and the surrounding area.

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2.28.12

Judge: Jerry Sandusky seeing grandkids OK

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A judge ruled Monday that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky can have supervised contact with most of his grandchildren, saying there was no evidence that the children’s parents wouldn’t be able to keep them safe.

Judge John Cleland also rejected requests by prosecutors that jurors be brought in from outside the State College area to hear the case and that Sandusky remain indoors while on home confinement before trial.

Sandusky

Prosecutors made the bail modification request after hearing concerns by neighbors about the safety of children, particularly at an elementary school behind Sandusky’s house.

“The commonwealth failed to present any evidence whatsoever that the defendant presents a clearly defined threat to any student at the adjoining elementary school simply by being on his deck,” Cleland wrote. “No evidence was presented that at any time the defendant made any effort to contact any of the children by signaling or calling to them, or that he made any gestures directed toward them, or that he acted in any inappropriate way whatsoever.”

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2.14.12

Sandusky says he wants State College-area jury for his trial

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer filed court paperwork Wednesday arguing that jurors in his child sex abuse trial should be chosen from the community where he lives and suggesting that a trial delay might be the best way to address the intense publicity generated by the case.

Defense attorney Joe Amendola wrote that the former Penn State assistant football coach is opposed to a request by the state attorney general’s office to bring in out-of-county jurors, saying publicity about Sandusky’s case has been so pervasive that jurors from other counties will also have been saturated with news coverage.

Sandusky “believes selecting jurors from a county outside Centre County will involve the same difficulties that the parties and the court will face in selecting a Centre County jury, and the jurors from any other county in Pennsylvania will face the same challenges and conflicts in being fair and impartial,” a defense filing stated.

The attorney general’s office asked for an out-of-county jury last week, calling news coverage of Sandusky’s arrest “spectacular in its breadth and intensity.”

Prosecutors said in that motion that people who live near Penn State might not be able to “insulate themselves” from the school and would face “a Gordian knot of conscious and even subconscious conflicts and difficulties.”

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2.9.12

Sandusky scandal takes toll on Penn State’s class

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Perhaps no major college football program in the country faced a bigger recruiting challenge than Penn State.

Eight high school players decommitted from the Nittany Lions’ 2012 class, including six after the child sexual abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky rocked the campus in November and cost late Hall of Fame head coach Joe Paterno his job.

Paterno’s successor, current New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, was hired Jan. 6, and he completed his first Penn State recruiting class Wednesday by signing 19 players to national letters of intent.

The class features 10 offensive players and nine on defense, and includes recruits from nine states and one from Canada.

“We signed a lot of great kids, great student-athletes, that are going to help us build this program,” said Charles London, the team’s recruiting coordinator and running backs coach.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207599-143.stm#ixzz1lE1DRh56

2.2.12

Prosecutors want Sandusky jury from outside Penn State area

Pennsylvania prosecutors, citing the “pervasive” news coverage of the child sex abuse case against former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, asked a state judge today to select jurors from outside the Penn State area.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan is not asking that the location of the trial be moved from Centre County, Pa. But he claimed that the “complete saturation of the Centre County community by coverage of this matter … requires that the jury be selected from another county.”

“The citizens of Centre County feel a laudable and proper sense of ownership of, and participation in, the fortunes of Penn State,” McGettigan wrote in a four-page motion.

Read more from USAToday.com

2.1.12

Jerry Sandusky Reflects On Joe Paterno’s Death

There has been an outpouring of sympathy from across the country as politicians, coaches and players reflect on the death of former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno.

Ironically, former Penn State assistant coach and accused child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky, has weighed in.

Here are Sandusky’s comments:

“This is a sad day! Our family, Dottie and I would like to convey our deepest sympathy to Sue and her family. Nobody did more for the academic reputation of Penn State than Joe Paterno. He maintained a high standard in a very difficult profession. Joe preached toughness, hard work and clean competition. Most importantly, he had the courage to practice what he preached. Nobody will be able to take away the memories we all shared of a great man, his family, and all the wonderful people who were a part of his life.”

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1.23.12

Bobby Bowden says he would have called police and told Jerry Sandusky to go away and never come back

Bobby Bowden believes  he would have handled the Jerry Sandusky sexual molestation scandal differently than did his fellow coaching icon — former Penn State coach Joe Paterno.

Bowden, like most of us, was shocked when he heard about the allegations of  Sandusky sexually abusing young boys inside Penn State’s athletic complex. In fact, he was probably more shocked because he actually knew Sandusky, competed against him, fraternized with him at coaching clinics.

“I just could not believe it,” Bowden said during an interview on our radio show Tuesday. “I guess Joe (Paterno) expressed it best when he said in hindsight, ‘I wish I had done more.’ ”

Bowden says it’s hard to fathom why Paterno and Penn State overlooked the allegations and handled the situation like they did.

Read more from OrlandoSentinel.com

12.22.11

Sandusky showered with boys to show them basic hygiene, says defense team

Rich Hofmann: Sandusky circus begins with disappearing act

BELLEFONTE - “Isn’t anybody else cold?” Joe Amendola asked at one point, standing at microphones set up in front of the courthouse steps, about halfway through a news conference that might have lasted an hour.

It might have lasted longer than an hour, but I’m not sure because I left. The attorney for Jerry Sandusky was right about at least one thing: It was cold.