PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

The attorney who represented convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky at trial in central Pennsylvania this past summer has again filed court papers stating that he plans to appeal his client’s conviction.

Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, was found guilty on 45 counts of child sex-abuse following a weeks-long trial at the Centre County Court of Common Pleas in June of last year.

Judge John M. Cleland, a senior judge who was specially appointed to preside over the case, subsequently sentenced Sandusky to between 30 and 60 years in state prison.

Sandusky’s attorneys, Joseph Amendola and Norris Gelman, soon filed post-trial motions seeking, among other things, a new trial on their contention that they did not have enough time by which to prepare a proper defense given the extremely thick case file.

Cleland, however, ended up rejecting the attorneys’ arguments, ruling that Sandusky was not entitled to an overturned verdict and a new trial.

This week, Amendola and Gelman filed another notice of appeal, stating that they would again be appealing Sandusky’s conviction to the state Superior Court.

The Feb. 21 filing, however, was mum on specifics, not really offering any substantive information other than to note the defense team is appealing Cleland’s Jan. 30 denial of the post-trial motions.

Sandusky, who was Penn State’s longtime assistant football coach, was convicted of sexually molesting 10 underage boys throughout a 15-year time period.

The scandal rocked the collegiate sports world, and made headlines both near and far.

It also led to hefty sanctions levied against Penn State over the university’s alleged failures as they relate to the sex scandal.

Those sanctions, which include a $60 million fine, are currently the subject of litigation in federal court, but not litigation initiated by Penn State.

Instead, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett filed suit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which issued the punishments, over claims that the sanctions violate antitrust laws.

The NCAA has filed a motion to dismiss the suit. It also recently filed its own suit against Corbett and other Pennsylvania officials arguing that the state government, in recently passing a law mandating that the $60 million in fine money remain within Pennsylvania’s borders, overstepped its constitutional bounds.

Both of the civil actions are playing out in the U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.