OT Sandusky granted additional hearings

Submitted by GoWings2008 on
Filed under the heading, "Are you fucking kidding me?"... A judge has granted Sandusky's team a hearing in August in an attempt to have his conviction overturned. He's had a few appeals denied already, but apparently that isn't stopping them from trying again. Ridiculous as it sounds, they're going to address several issues at hand, most notably the competency of his trial lawyer. I hope this effort falls flat on its face. Link from Reuters (because I didn't want to link ESPN or partner ABC): http://reut.rs/1SRWIYs Edit: This is an older article, but a brief search didn't reveal it had been posted before. If I missed it, mods feel free to delete.
MGoBoard

Lawyer12

June 17th, 2016 at 4:15 AM ^

I am actually a criminal defense attorney and I can tell you that this is routine and not to be worried about.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 12/17/2012

MGoPoints: 3066

xtramelanin

June 17th, 2016 at 6:03 AM ^

hearing and are rarely successful.   he had some very good lawyers working for him under extreme scrutiny, so in the absence of a combined lightning strike and lottery win, this effort will go exactly nowhere.

literally every single case, and especially every single murder case, i tried got appealed.  the defendants have the rest of their lives to try and somehow get it overturned so what is there to lose?   i had one cold case first degreemurder conviction turned into a second degree conviction, but otherwise never had a case overturned on appeal.  that is pretty standard. 

Joined: 12/09/2014

MGoPoints: 15439

1974

June 17th, 2016 at 6:31 AM ^

Is anyone else tired of hearing about Penn State's dark past? There seems to be nearly universal agreement that it was B-A-D and I don't see what additional posts of this type add to the discussion.

Joined: 04/17/2011

MGoPoints: 7799

RGard

June 17th, 2016 at 9:34 AM ^

There's a large majority of their alumni who don't think Paterno or the administration there did anything wrong.  They keep electing Trustees who promise to get Paterno, Spanier, Schultz and Curley exonerated.  They want Paterno's statue back on hallowed ground and they want the NCAA and B1G to apologize for the sanctions and censure.  

 

Joined: 10/20/2014

MGoPoints: 56995

mgoblue0970

June 17th, 2016 at 9:41 AM ^

No.

Those fuckers are getting off scott free.  As @Everyone Muders says, "NEVER. FUCKING. FORGET"

Do you have kids? NEVER. FUCKING. FORGET

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 18648

WolverineHistorian

June 17th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^

Well said. 

There is currently a Mailbag report on FoxSports.com that asks the question, 'Could the Big 12 just kick Baylor out?'

The first thing that popped in my mind was, "No way in hell." 

If we're stuck with Penn State, the Big 12 should have to keep Baylor. 

 

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 55466

ijohnb

June 17th, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^

the filing of it is purely routine but the hearing may not be. Again, depends on the State. I DON'T think this will win, but I did note at the time how remarkably fast the trial was. I think it is safe to assume his trial lawyers did not exactly "Johnny Cochron it" but they would have had to be a special kind of bad for this motion to have any chance.

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 69986

PopeLando

June 17th, 2016 at 7:32 AM ^

Appeals are common and routine. It's important to establish that his trial was fair, impartial, and correct. But I hope they don't let him out of cuffs and his prison uniform: it's important to remember that this guy is a violent sexual criminal who can't be trusted in society.

Joined: 08/01/2015

MGoPoints: 68245

LKLIII

June 17th, 2016 at 7:41 AM ^

Just out of curiosity but who pays for the attorney fees for these typically futile appeals? I'd assume most criminals don't have the cash and most lawyers won't take this on a contingency for wrongful conviction or anything like that. Is it a public appellate defender or something? Do those even exist?



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 11/06/2013

MGoPoints: 8927

ijohnb

June 17th, 2016 at 8:02 AM ^

it can be appointed counsel depending on the jurisdiction. An appointed attorney is pretty much guaranteed for a first direct appeal, but it varies for anything after that. There obviously is no contingency fee in a criminal case, but it is entirely possible that these attorneys are working for free on their own accord. It may seem counterintuitive and kind of icky, but this would be an attractive case for a relatively unknown attorney to take. It is high profile and low expectation. It is assumed that he is totally screwed so it is all upside. If you lose, of course you did. If you win, you are suddenly a hot commodity in the field. Jose Baez was some dude, then he won the Casey Anthony case and now he is a big shot and an adjunct professor of law at Harvard. Though it is entirely possible that he was paid with "other payment methods" as well.

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 69986

RGard

June 17th, 2016 at 9:26 AM ^

He is supposedly paying for his own appeal.  He has a pension.  It was originally forfeited, but he got it back as the law that would have taken his pension away could not be applied retroactively (was passed after he retired).

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if some Penn State alumni are funding this.  There's a sizeable number of joebots who think that if they can get Sandusky a new trial and if he is then acquitted of the all the charges related to the incident in 2001 that Paterno knew about, then..."Jerry's innocent of the 2001 charges!  Paterno did nothing wrong!  Put the statue back up".  I shit you not, they actually believe this.

Additionally, Penn State Trustee Al Lord is funding Spanier's (PSU Prez at the time of the 2001 incident) civil case against Louis Freeh.

Some alumni call that place 'Central Pennsylvania Gothic'.

 

 

Joined: 10/20/2014

MGoPoints: 56995