State seeks outside jury for Sandusky abuse trial
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Calling Penn State University and Centre County "inextricably intertwined; both philosophically and economically," the state attorney general's office on Tuesday filed a motion asking that an outside jury be chosen to hear the criminal case against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
Although the prosecution's motion repeatedly references the "complete saturation" of media coverage in Centre County of the scandal that led to the termination of legendary coach Joe Paterno and the resignation of university President Graham Spanier, it is the relationship of the community to the school that takes up most of the government's argument.
"The citizens of Centre County feel a laudable and proper sense of ownership of, and participation in, the fortunes of Penn State," wrote Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan. "To ask members of that community to break down that alloy and insulate themselves from the institution which informs so many aspects of their lives is asking too much.
"It is unfair and impracticable."
But defense attorney Joseph Amendola disagreed and said he was disappointed in the commonwealth's motion.
"Jerry and I have always believed a fair and impartial jury could be selected from a jury pool comprised of Centre County citizens," Mr. Amendola wrote in an emailed response. "Jerry's case has drawn national attention as a result of which we feel there's no better place than Centre County from which to select fair-minded individuals to sit as jurors in Jerry's case. We will vehemently oppose the commonwealth's motion for a change of venire."
Mr. Sandusky is accused of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. A grand jury recommended charges against him in November.
In its motion, the prosecution called media coverage of the Sandusky case "spectacular in its breadth and intensity," and "without analogue or peer in the history of the commonwealth."
But more than that, Mr. McGettigan wrote that if jurors were chosen from Centre County, they would face "a Gordian knot of conscious and even subconscious conflicts and difficulties which the most skillful voir dire could not identify and untangle."
First Published February 1, 2012 12:00 am
