BELLEFONTE -- The fate of former Penn State Football coach and convicted child predator Jerry Sandusky is expected to be revealed Wednesday on whether he will get a new trial.
A Centre County judge is expected to make a decision if Sandusky can be re-tried on charges of child sexual abuse.
It was back in May that Jerry Sandusky made an appearance at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte for a post-conviction relief hearing. The former Penn State assistant football coach and convicted child predator was in court to appeal his 2012 guilty verdict on charges he sexually abused several boys.
Sandusky now argues that his trial attorneys failed to represent him effectively and made mistakes.
He wants the charges against him to be thrown out or to be granted a new trial.
“An allegation that they didn't raise a particular defense or that they didn't call particular defense witnesses or that they didn't appropriately cross examine commonwealth witnesses,” said attorney Peter Paul Olszewski.
Olszewski has spent time in the courtroom as a prosecutor, as a judge, and now as a defense attorney.
With the judge in Sandusky's appeals case set to make a decision on Sandusky's argument, Olszewski says it's anyone's guess how the judge will rule on the evidence taken during the hearings.
“Many times a claim like this is valid because at trial defense lawyers do make mistakes,” said Olszewski. “In terms of the percentage of times this avenue is successful, very few.”
If the judge denies Sandusky's post-conviction relief appeal, Olszeswski says Sandusky can to appeal to the state superior court and then to the Pennsylvania supreme court.
With Sandusky serving a 30 to 60-year prison sentence, Olszeswski expects he'll do just that.
“He doesn't have much else to do with his time right now so it's easy for him to read transcripts, to make allegations, to do the best he can to reverse a lengthy sentence.”
The judge is expected to reveal his decision at noon Wednesday.
Newswatch 16 will, of course, have complete coverage of the ruling.