Former Penn State University defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky will get a jury of his Centre County peers to hear his criminal trial.
He will continue to be allowed to go out on his back deck to play with his dog.
And he is allowed to have visitation with select friends and his grandchildren.
Monday was a good day for the defense camp as McKean County Senior Judge John M. Cleland, who is assigned to Mr. Sandusky's child sexual abuse case, found in his favor on a number of motions before him.
"Jerry, Dottie, and their entire family are very relieved by and pleased with the court's decision," defense attorney Joe Amendola said in a written statement.
Both sides in recent weeks have filed a flurry of motions with the court as the case heads toward a May 14 trial date.
Mr. Amendola asked that his client be permitted to see his 11 grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 to 14, as well as other motions seeking permission to leave his home to assist in his defense, which also was granted.
The prosecution filed its own motion to modify bail, asking that Mr. Sandusky be required to stay inside his home as neighbors and parents from a nearby elementary school had complained he had been watching children on the playground while out on his back deck .
Judge Cleland heard arguments on all the motions on Friday and issued his opinions Monday.
Regarding visitation with Mr. Sandusky's grandchildren, the judge found that all of the parents except one who is involved in a custody dispute with Mr. Sandusky's son are agreeable. They also have said that if visitation were permitted, at least one parent would be present during any personal or electronic contact, such as chatting online.
Although Judge Cleland acknowledged that an abundance of caution would call for no visitation, he wrote: " request here comes from the parents of the defendant's grandchildren."
In the custody case, Judge Cleland said it will be up to the judge in that matter to decide whether those three grandchildren should be included in Mr. Sandusky's visitation.
In addition to allowing the grandchildren visitation, Judge Cleland also approved visits for Mr. Sandusky of up to 12 friends, totaling six hours each week.
As far as limiting Mr. Sandusky to being inside his home as part of his electronic monitoring, Judge Cleland rejected the idea, saying the prosecution failed to present any evidence that the man is a threat to the students at the elementary school.
In finding that the criminal case should be heard by a Centre County jury, Judge Cleland discounted the prosecution's assertion that it would be impossible for people from that community to separate their loyalties to Penn State from the criminal case.
Instead, he wrote, "The presumption should be in favor of at least making an effort to select a fair and impartial jury in the county where the defendant has been charged."
If it becomes apparent the process can't be completed within a reasonable time, the judge said he will reconsider his ruling.
Judge Cleland denied a request by the defendant seeking the early release of grand jury testimony because he said it needed to be directed to the supervising judge of the investigating grand jury.
Also Monday in Dauphin County Court, the attorney for Penn State athletic director Tim Curley filed a motion asking that the perjury count against her client be dismissed.
Caroline Roberto argued that with the death of former football coach Joe Paterno, there is no longer testimony to corroborate the charge. She also wants the summary count for failing to report the alleged abuse thrown out.
Mr. Curley was charged after testifying before the grand jury that he was told about "inappropriate conduct" by Mr. Sandusky in a shower on the Penn State campus. When asked if the behavior was "sexual," Mr. Curley denied it.
However, in her filing, Ms. Roberto claims that the preliminary hearing testimony by the key witness against Mr. Sandusky in the alleged shower incident, Mike McQueary, does not match the grand jury presentment.
In the charging document, Mr. McQueary is quoted as saying he saw anal intercourse between Mr. Sandusky and a young boy. However, at the preliminary hearing, Mr. McQueary denied saying he saw that.
At that same hearing, prosecutors read into the record Mr. Paterno's grand jury testimony, in which he said he reported to Mr. Curley that Mr. Sandusky had been "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy."
Ms. Roberto said that the late coach's testimony would likely have been the corroboration for Mr. McQueary's grand jury statements, but because Mr. Paterno died, that testimony becomes hearsay and is inadmissible.
Ms. Roberto also asked the court to throw out the summary offense against Mr. Curley claiming that he was a mandatory reporter and failed to report suspected child abuse. She claims that the attorney general's office used new, much more broad language from 2007 in the charging document, even though the alleged offense occurred in 2002.
"The facts alleged would not establish the essential elements of the crime as defined by law at the time of the alleged offense, and thus, the facts alleged do not constitute an offense," Ms. Roberto wrote.
In addition, she said, based on the charges from 2002, the two-year statute of limitations would have expired.
No comments:
Post a Comment