Sandusky will testify in new trial bid targeting his defense lawyers
Lawyers for former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky are arguing his lawyer erred by allowing an interview with Bob Costas and failing to put Sandusky on the stand rebut victim testimony in his child-molestation trial.
Judge John Cleland of Centre County, Pennsylvania, is holding three days of evidentiary hearings on the claims in proceedings that begin Friday, Pennlive.com and Philly.com report. Alexander Lindsay, Sandusky’s current lawyer, tells Reuters that Sandusky will testify.
Sandusky claims he wasn’t told that the Costas interview could be used against him at trial. According to Pennlive.com, “many felt Sandusky, while trying to maintain his innocence, came oddly close to conceding boundary issues with boys” during the interview.
The new trial bid also alleges that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office leaked grand jury material, leading more alleged victims to come forward and creating a “lynch mob mentality,” the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. A spokesperson for the office said prosecutors “feel strongly that the claims laid out in his petition are meritless.”
Sandusky’s trial lawyer, Joe Amendola, didn’t comment in the stories. But he has said he needed more time to prepare for the trial. Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for sexually abusing 10 boys. He was convicted in June 2012.
