BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Former Penn State assistant football coach and convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky was in court in Bellefonte today, seeking a new trial.
Sandusky claims he was wrongly convicted. His legal team claims grand jury leaks are among the issues that compromised his case.
"There's much to say!" Sandusky shouted as he walked into the Centre County Courthouse Monday morning. "For now, (attorney) Al Lindsay is going to say it. Listen to him!"
Lindsay is hoping to get his client a new trial based on the belief Sandusky had an incompetent defense when he convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse in 2012. However, when Lindsay attempted to get permission to subpoena Sandusky's former attorneys to testify, Judge John Cleland pressed back on if there were enough facts to warrant questioning nearly four years after the conviction.
Sandusky was appealing his 2012 conviction under the Pennsylvania Post Conviction Relief Act, which, as stated by Judge Cleland during the nearly hour-long hearing Monday, only allows a petitioner to a hearing for a new trial if facts are provided. Cleland felt Lindsay did not know for certain what his witnesses would say if questioned.
"What you're saying is, I think I have a claim here for persons A, B, and C, but won't know for sure until they say A, B, and C," Cleland told Lindsay.
The McKean County judge made no rulings on any potential retrial Monday, but will allow Lindsay to try and seek testimony from Attorney General Kathleen Kane. Cleland gave Lindsay 10 days to add the attorney general to a possible witness list in order to get her to testify concerning what she knew about grand jury leaks in the Sandusky case in 2011.
Sandusky, 72, is currently serving a 30-60 year sentence.
Protestors waited outside the courthouse Monday. Some wore masks and attempted to interrupt a press conference following the hearing. Others protested more silently, holding signs which read, "Support the victims. No retrial."
"He can stay in prison the rest of his life as far as I'm concerned," said Dorie Adams of Port Matilda, Pa. "He wants a retrial? Do the victims get a retrial? It's ridiculous. "
Sandusky wrote a statement which was read by attorney Andrew Salemme, which read, in part, "Just like the rest of the world, I am imperfect. However, I stand firm that my slate is clean of these alleged heinous crimes."
