The second week of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse trial began Monday with his attorneys asking the judge to dismiss many of the charges. The judge listened to their arguments then shot them down.
The defense gave various reasons to dismiss the charges. For one, they argued that when the alleged victims testified, they gave no exact dates or times when the abuse allegedly happened. Defense attorney Karl Rominger said that makes it difficult for Sandusky to come up with an alibi.
Rominger also argued that alleged Victim 6 never gave enough testimony for his accusations to arise to a serious crime. Alleged Victim 6 was the boy who along with his mother came forward to police in 1998 after he allegedly showered with Sandusky in the Penn State football building locker room. Charges were never filed then.
In his testimony last week, he talked about being bear hugged by Sandusky, he spoke of Sandusky pressing his naked body up against his backside. He said he remembered Sandusky’s chest hair pressed up against his face. But he also testified that he blacked out at one point when Sandusky lifted him up high against the shower. The defense said he never spoke of any kind of direct abuse. Prosecutors argued that just the naked hugging in the shower rose to the level of abuse and criminal activity. The judge refused to dismiss the charge “for now.”
Also, the defense wanted some charges related to alleged Victim 2 thrown out. That is the victim that Mike McQueary testified about seeing being raped in the shower at the Lasch Football Building. The defense made the case that McQueary didn’t see actual penetration, so the indecent assault charges couldn’t stick. The prosecution argued that he saw everything but. The judge agreed with prosecutors that there was enough circumstantial or direct evidence for the jury to consider.
The defense was also arguing that McQueary didn’t know the exact age of the boy involved in that incident so there’s no way to know if he is under 16 as the charges say. McQueary did testify that the boy was clearly pre-pubescent. The judge again agreed with prosecutors.
The prosecution did withdraw one charge involving unlawful contact with a minor related to alleged Victim 7. That’s because the law regarding that crime was only enacted after the alleged abuse occured. That means Sandusky now faces 51 criminal counts instead of 52.
The prosecution said it was done on Friday, but it will call one more witness on this Monday morning before resting. Then it will be the defense’s turn. Court is expected to resume shortly after 10 a.m.
