The judge who sentenced convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky to between three and
six decades in state prison has approved a request by Sandusky’s defense counsel to have an evidentiary hearing to examine issues surrounding the contention that lawyers should have been given more time to work on the case.
In a one-page order issued Dec. 18, Common Pleas Court Judge John M. Cleland granted the motion for an evidentiary hearing that had earlier been filed by attorneys Joseph Amendola and Norris Gelman.
The order scheduled the hearing to take place on Jan. 10 at the Centre County Courthouse.
The motion for an evidentiary hearing that had been filed by Sandusky’s defense attorneys on Dec. 13 was related to the mid-October post-sentencing motion that seeks an overturned conviction and a new trial over claims that the court erred when it failed to grant motions for continuance.
Amendola and Gelman argue that they didn’t have enough time to prepare for Sandusky’s trial on child sex-abuse charges.
The lawyers say they needed additional time by which to comb through the troves of discovery and generally prepare a proper defense.
Sandusky, once the assistant football coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions, was convicted on 45 out of 48 counts of child sex-abuse back in June.
He sexually molested 10 young boys over a 15-year time period.
He received a 30-to-60-year state prison sentence in October.
Sandusky judge grants defense request for evidentiary hearing in post-sentencing motions
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