Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State coach convicted last week on 45 criminal counts in his notorious child sex abuse case will appeal his convictions, CNN reports.
Sandusky’s defense team plans to file a motion for appeal, claiming he had ineffective counsel, defense attorney Karl Rominger said Sunday. Under Pennsylvania law, that motion cannot be filed until after sentencing.
If Cleland agrees to a hearing on the motion, lead defense attorney Joe Amendola would step aside and appear as a witness, the attorney said. Rominger said either he or another attorney would argue the motion.
Rominger said on Saturday that he and Amendola attempted to withdraw from the case before the trial, telling Cleland the day before jury selection began that they did not feel adequately prepared and that it would be “unethical” for them to move forward. Cleland denied their request, he said. Rominger said he did not mention the issue earlier because a gag order was in place.
If Cleland denies the appeal motion, it would be likely to become part of a broader appeal, Rominger said. Ineffective counsel is a common appeal tactic, but a broader appeal may cite other reasons as well.
“If you win on one of the appeal issues, everything probably falls,” Amendola said last week. “All we have to do is convince an appellate court that one of the issues we will raise is worthy of a reversal.”
This is why everybody hates lawyers.
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