BELLEFONTE – Attorneys on both sides addressed the press after Jerry Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Tuesday. Both attorneys indicated they were aware the waiver was going to occur.
“The commonwealth was ready,” said Senior Deputy Prosecutor Marc Costanzo.
He indicated that Sandusky’s bail remains the same; house arrest with electronic monitoring and the same clauses pertaining to contact with minors.
Costanzo stated that this helps the prosecution by not creating a second record. He indicated the prosecution had 11 potential witnesses who could have testified, but would not say how many of them were alleged victims. He also said there has been no discussion regarding a plea deal.
He also spoke about the alleged victims.
“They’ve shown great strength,” said Costanzo.
Defense attorney Joe Amendola addressed the press a little later.
“We are not in any way conceding guilty,” said Amendola. He stated that Sandusky adamantly maintains his innocence.
Amendola said the preliminary hearing would simply been a rehash of grand jury testimony. Amendola said the defense would not have been able to present a case or question the credibility of the witnesses.
“We wanted to be able to cross-examine Mike McQueary,” said Amendola. He pointed to a number of possible credibility issues in McQueary’s grand jury testimony.
Amendola stated that they decided to waive the hearing late Monday night. He indicated that Sandusky still had to sign paperwork, and until that was done, his client could still have gone forward with a hearing.
Sandusky’s next scheduled court date, formal arraignment, is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2012.
