The first day of the Jerry Sandusky trial brought with it the surprise hint from attorney Joe Amendola that, perhaps, Sandusky will take the stand to defend himself. Although that’s yet to officially happen -- Amendola was coy about the very topic this morning -- Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, did testify during Day 6 and the second day of the defense’s presentation.
The testimony itself was about what one would expect. Sandusky said she never saw any inappropriate contact between her husband, who is now facing 51 counts related to child-sex abuse, and his alleged victims. Specifically, Sandusky said she once walked into a hotel room during a bowl trip, where her husband and a young boy were fully clothed. Below is a portion of her testimony via Statecollege.com:“I walked in and I said, ‘What’s going on?’ Jerry was very upset. We had asked [him] if he wanted to go to a luncheon. He said he’d really like to go,” Dottie Sandusky said
“They were just standing in the little hallway. They had their clothes on. Jerry was yelling. I knew Jerry was mad. It was just the way he looked, and he said, ‘We did this for you. You got to do this.’ ”
Dottie Sandusky characterized alleged victim No. 4 as demanding, conniving, always wanting his way and not listening a lot. She called alleged victim No. 1 very clingy to Jerry, somebody who would never look people in the eye.
Alleged Victim 4 claims Sandusky abused him several times, including once during a trip to the 1998 Alamo Bowl.
Earlier today, witnesses in the defense’s presentation attempted to discredit the accusations made by alleged Victims 1 and 4 -- and by far it was the defense’s most successful attempt. A former neighbor accused Victim 1’s family of ulterior, financial motives while another witness said alleged Victim 4 had a tendency for “dishonesty and embellished stories.
The defense is expected to wrap up their presentations Wednesday in time for closing arguments and jury deliberation Thursday.