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<p>There was a report that the lawyer cancelled the hearing in part because the prosecutor informed him that his ability to cross examine or question the witnesses at the hearing was going to be somehow limited. If this is so, I can see why he did waive the right to the hearing. Not sure how experienced lawyers see this, or what typical protocol for such a hearing would be.</p>
<p>Prosecutors told Amendola (sandusky’s attorney) that after all the testimony, they were planning to move to have bail increased to something substantially above his client’s ability to make, hence remanding Sandusky back to jail until the trial. Amendola made a deal with prosecutors that if they did not request higher bail, in return Sandusky would waive his hearing rights and presumably give prosecutors a stronger case in the fall, since the testimony at the hearing would have been compared unfavorably to any testimony at the trial (i.e., if the witnesses stories are not identical at both events, they are presumed to be lying). Not to mention, the witnesses will only have to testify once. The witnesses were all told this in the hours before the hearing and were not present at the courthouse. Sandusky is under house arrest until the trial.</p>
<p>Lawyer people, feel free to correct me where I am getting this wrong…</p>
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<p>Wouldn’t this be common knowledge to any defense attorney with even a modicum of experience?</p>
<p>The account that I read gave me an impression that it was either not standard procedure or somehow was under the control of the prosecutor. I don’t know what is normal under preliminary hearing circumstances.</p>
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<p>yes… perhaps you should try google. Although, some of the results, depending on your keywords, will likely be xxx related.</p>
<p>The new defense attorney helping on Sandusky’s case was on local central PA news tonight talking about how common it was for “troubled kids” to not know how to wash their own bodies. He said those “troubled kids” needed an adult to show them how to put soap on their bodies. So that’s how Jerry’s going to justify showering with other people’s children. It’s all a big misunderstanding- he was simply providing a necessary hygiene lesson when his hands and other body parts allegedly slipped on the slippery soap.</p>
<p>^and was helping “troubled kids” learn how to wash their bodies part of Sandusky’s job description, and was that description shared with these "troubled kids’ "parents???</p>
<p>My gosh, Cliffylove! Do these people really believe the things they’re saying, or do they think they can convince the rest of us?</p>
<p>The new attorney, rominger, said that mentally and emotionally Sandusky was more of a teenager than a grown man. On his website, he says the preliminary hearing is really important andnit gives the defense a chance to lock in testimony, to get case dismissed, and any good attorney looks forward to having the chance at that hearing. Paraphrasing.</p>
<p>LasMa- It appears that the defense counsel truly believes their client and they want to convince the rest of us that it’s normal kid jocks shower together after exercise. Of course we have to suspend reality that Sandusky is a grown man spending lots of naked time with vulnerable boys (according to his own showering admissions).</p>
<p>And in my experience, good defense counsel never want a preliminary hearing. First, there’s virtually no chance at getting the charges dismissed. Jerry’s facing 50 charges. Second, if defense counsel cross examines prosecution witnesses who later become unavailable to testify, the witness’s testimony may be admissible in a later trial because it’s sworn testimony under oath given when the defense had an opportunity to confront the witness. Third, who wants to sit in court and hear a preview of all the gory details that you WILL hear again at trial- which in Jerry’s case is allegedly a lot of oral genital contact, anal rape, and forcible French kissing perpetrated by a grown man on 10 year old boys.</p>
<p>In my opinion everything that Jerry and his team have been doing pretrial- the interviews, the waiting until the last possible minute to cancel the preliminary, the declarations that the lawyers “can’t wait” to cross examine the witnesses- has all been a calculated effort to get these young men to recant their allegations. I’m rooting for the alleged victims to stay strong and give Jerry his day in court. Don’t let Jerry pervert justice and let’s hear the evidence and let the jury decide his fate.</p>
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<p>[Penn</a> State loses top recruit to Buckeyes | Lion Eyes | 12/13/2011](<a href=“Penn State loses top recruit to Buckeyes”>Penn State loses top recruit to Buckeyes)</p>
<p>I honestly think that the constant “we don’t know what happened, we are looking into it” is coming off horribly for PSU, public relations-wise. They should hurry with their internal investigation, and act accordingly. If they honestly find there was no wrongdoing, then publish those findings. The public isn’t stupid, and will react accordingly.</p>
<p>But, the discrediting of McQueary with no clear support, Sandusky crying innocence, is all just hurting them, and the longer this goes on the more damage is being done.</p>
<p>His lawyers are beyond stupid. How incredibly insulting to suggest that those boys, because they may have been troubled, did not know how to wash their bodies. If the victims weren’t angry enough, this certainly adds fuel to the fire and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more victims come forward after hearing that drivel.</p>
<p>As far as Sandusky being like a teenage boy…well, that is a double edged sword. Any expert on sexual abuse can testify that pedophiles are men (and sometimes women) who have, most likely, been abused themselves. Often, a victim will become emotionally stunted at the age that the abuse happened. If Sandusky really has the emotional age of a teenager, one can only speculate on the possibility that he suffered trauma at that age. An adult who behaves like a child does not excuse himself from his actions based on his mental age. On the contrary, people should see that as a red flag.</p>
<p>I don’t buy that his lawyers believe in his innocence. I wonder if any of them would leave a child that they love in his care.</p>
<p>"'I honestly think that the constant “we don’t know what happened, we are looking into it” is coming off horribly for PSU, public relations-wise. They should hurry with their internal investigation, and act accordingly. If they honestly find there was no wrongdoing, then publish those findings. The public isn’t stupid, and will react accordingly."</p>
<p>I’m not an attorney, but I wonder if some of the internal proceedings are hampered by the legal proceedings. 2 of the administrators are under indictment for perjury. Even if their attorneys allow them to speak, I would think that PSU can not/would not go public with any findings that are subject to ongoing legal proceedings. </p>
<p>And if PSU did conclude no wrongdoing (which is subject to interpretation–legal? moral? (whose morals?) etc)), I think the public would scoff anyway and demand to wait to hear what the legal proceedings reveal. </p>
<p>And players decommitting is certainly no surprise. Its not the program they signed up for. They have NO idea who the coaching staff will be for their 4 years. That is a major factor, besides any ongoing fallout from the scandal. And Urban Meyer is a great coach, making it an excellent choice for some of the kids.</p>
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<p>I thought of that after I posted it. :)</p>
<p>EPTR, I had the same thoughts hearing Rominger say Jerry was emotionally a young teenager. </p>
<p>From Mayo Clinic on Pedophiles~ They have difficulty with mature age-appropriate interpersonal interactions, particularly because of their reduced assertiveness, elevated levels of passive-aggressivity, and increased anger or hostility.5,23,27,28,55-63 These traits lead to difficulty dealing with painful affect, which results in the excessive use of the major defense mechanisms of intellectualization, denial, cognitive distortion (eg, manipulation of fact), and rationalization.6,24,46,53,56,62 Even though pedophiles often have difficulty with interpersonal relationships, 50% or more will marry at some point in their lives.15,32,53,55,56,61,64</p>
<p>I wonder if Sandusky’s computer has been checked as many pedophiles look at child pornography? This would be a separate crime which would support the victims’ accusations.</p>
<p>Prosecutors quickly denounced Amendola’s version of events and hours later he backtracked, apologizing for any missteps and clarifying that he reached out to prosecutors first to avoid an increase in bail that could put Sandusky in jail.</p>
<p>“I want to clearly state I initiated discussions concerning a waiver of Jerry’s preliminary hearing following an earlier discussion on Monday with the commonwealth attorney in which he advised me it was his intent to ask for a bail increase following Jerry’s hearing,” Amendola wrote in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.</p>
<p>“It was not my intent to mislead anyone concerning the circumstances which led to the waiver of Jerry’s preliminary hearing.”</p>
<p>yeah right, keep fighting Amendola, everyone can see you are cut from the same cloth as Sandusky</p>
<p>“This case could not get more surreal, could it?”</p>
<p>“The new defense attorney helping on Sandusky’s case was on local central PA news tonight talking about how common it was for “troubled kids” to not know how to wash their own bodies.”</p>
<p>Very helpful analysis here. It is important to understand much of this legal stuff to get a sense of what is really happening and what it could mean or does mean, and it will continue to be a help for me as the case continues. Thanks all!</p>
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<p>The decommitting of recruits won’t stop until the recruits find out who will be coaching them. And that might be a little tough to figure out, since any ambitious coach will want to know if he is facing some sort of NCAA sanctions at the situation he is entering. Currently the NCAA is supposedly investigating PSU with regard to the Sandusky situation.</p>
<p>[State</a> College, PA - Penn State Football: Niumatalolo Not a Target of Coaching Search, Rep Says](<a href=“http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-football-niumatalolo-not-a-target-of-coaching-search-rep-says-962019/]State”>http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-football-niumatalolo-not-a-target-of-coaching-search-rep-says-962019/)</p>
<p>The point about the internal investigation conflicting with the criminal trlals is a good one. You also have the criminal trial preceding what will the the trial for monetary damages which will be the civil actions against PSU. If these things are going on contemporaneously, it would seem that the case would be very complicated for the lawyers, judges, and the defendants.</p>
<p>I thought Amendola’s brave talk leading up to the scheduled preliminary hearing about how he was looking forward to cross-examining the witnesses, how these young men wouldn’t appear, that some would testify in support of Sandusky, etc., was all just a bluff aimed at scaring off the prosecution’s witnesses. When it became clear that the prosecutor actually had the witnesses and that they were prepared to go through the ordeal of reliving all this stuff in a courtroom–and not just one or two, but a whole bunch of them–Amendola pulled the plug on the hearing, knowing it would be a bloodbath of bad publicity for his client. I’m not sure I even buy the story about the prosecutor wanting to raise bail. It could be there was some discussion of that, and once the awful details came out at the hearing the judge might very well have decided to lock Sandusky up. But even if that was discussed, I don’t think it was the primary motivation for Amendola. He lost his bluff to keep the witnesses from testifying and it became apparent the prosecutor’s hand was stronger than Amendola had hoped, so he folded rather than having the lurid details splashed around the news networks and the internet for the next weeks and months.</p>
<p>But it suggests Amendola is prepared to play hardball with these kids’ psyches. This could get pretty brutal.</p>