BELLEFONTE -- Jerry Sandusky’s legal team still maintains their client’s innocence and spoke out about it after the sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Joe Amendola, Sandusky’s lead defense attorney, said that the prosecution of the former Penn State coach was a rush to judgement. They believe that if they had enough time to prepare for trial, they would have been able to prove Sandusky’s innocence.
Instead, Sandusky will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. He was taken in handcuffs to the Centre County prison and will be housed there for about ten days awaiting any post-sentencing motions. From there he will be placed in a state correctional facility.
Sandusky’s attorneys said they plan to file an appeal. Amendola said the trial violated Sandusky’s right to due process. They claim that Sandusky was rushed to trial far faster than the less-serious case against former Penn State officials accused in the cover-up of the case.
“Just take Curley, Shultz: two charges, 14 months at least. Jerry Sandusky: 52 counts, ten separate cases, each of which could have been tried separately, and we had four and a half months flying by the seat of our pants. That’s the due process issue,” said Amendola.
“In fact, (Sandusky’s) statement today was a masterpiece of denial and self-delusion, completely untethered from reality without any acceptance of reality. It was entirely self-focused as if he, again, was the victim. It was, in short, ridiculous,” said prosecutor Joseph McGettigan.