BELLEFONTE – The judge who sentenced Jerry Sandusky to at least 30 years in prison is about to hear defense lawyers and prosecutors argue over whether the former Penn State assistant football coach got a fair trial.
The proceeding Thursday in Bellefonte includes a debate over whether Sandusky’s lawyers had enough time to prepare for the trial that resulted in a 45-count guilty verdict.
Sandusky says Judge John Cleland should have issued jury instructions about how long it took his victims to report abuse.
He’s also challenging hearsay testimony by a janitorial supervisor who told jurors that a co-worker had seen Sandusky raping a boy.
Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence but maintains his innocence and is pursuing appeals.
The hearing is the first step in the appeals process that could go on for years. Defense attorney Joe Amendola said Sandusky vows to take his appeal process to a federal court if necessary.
On Wednesday, WJAC-Tv’s Gary Sinderson spoke with Amendola, who said he feels many people decided his client was guilty from the day he was arrested.
“Once the attorney general accusations came out, many people didn’t want to hear anymore,” Amendola said.
Thursday’s hearing is expected to focus on the timeline of the trial, with Amendola arguing the defense didn’t have enough time to prepare and gather information about the accusers.
Amendola said, “In fact, we’re still getting information we could have presented at trial.”
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