Court hears Jerry Sandusky bid for new trial
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press September 17, 2013 2:10PM
FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, center, is taken from the Centre County Courthouse by Centre County Sheriff Denny Nau, left, and a deputy, after being sentenced in Bellefonte, Pa. Sandusky's challenge to his child molestation conviction goes before a state appeals court on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, as the former Penn State assistant football coach seeks to overturn a sentence that could keep him behind bars for life. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A hearing has begun into the claim by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky that the criminal proceeding against him was so flawed that he deserves a new trial.
A three-judge Pennsylvania Superior Court panel was hearing an oral argument Tuesday regarding the appeal.
The 69-year-old Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of 10 boys.
Sandusky claims his lawyers weren’t given enough time to prepare for trial, that a prosecutor made improper references to the fact he didn’t testify and that the judge mishandled jury instructions.
The state attorney general’s office says the 45-count conviction should stand and Sandusky shouldn’t get a new trial.
The hearing is being conducted in a full courtroom in Wilkes-Barre. Sandusky isn’t there.
