STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ Jerry Sandusky will not get a new trial.
Jefferson County President Judge John Foradora's decision to dismiss the Post-conviction Collateral Relief Act petition was announced Wednesday.
It came after attorneys petitioned for a last-minute addition of evidence.
Sandusky, the retired Penn State football defensive coordinator convicted in 2012 of 45 of 48 counts of child sex abuse crimes, has been in the midst of PCRA petition for years. The final decision came after months of evidentiary hearings and motions and two judges.
Sandusky's attorneys, Al Lindsay and Andrew Salemme, argued multiple reasons for a new trial or dismissed charges, including grand jury leaks and incompetence of trial counsel Joe Amendola and Karl Rominger.
Foradora dismissed all of them.
As to the leaks, he placed that decision in the hands of Judge John Cleland, who recused himself from the case in November 2016 after hearing many oral arguments and some testimony and presiding over the trial phase.
"Judge Cleland did not permit the defendant to call Sarah (sic) Ganim ... and ultimately dismissed the issue with the promise of a forthcoming opinion," Foradora wrote.
CNN's Ganim, who covered the case for the Patriot-News, published information Sandusky's attorneys say came from leaks that tainted the accounts of nine victims who came forward later.
While Cleland did not offer an opinion before recusing himself, Foradora did not overrule the dismissal, and said that "evidence reveals that there is no merit to the underlying claim of prosecutorial misconduct."
Foradora also supported decisions made by Amendola during the trial phase, including not quashing motions or testimony and allowing the Bob Costas interview many found damning due to a long pause when the journalist asked about sexual attraction.
" ... His attorney certainly could not anticipate that the same man who had repeatedly affirmed 'I am not a child molester. I have never molested children. I love children. I have devoted half my adulthood to helping kids,' would freeze when asked whether he was attracted to young boys," the judge wrote.
He called the decision "informed by the realization that public opinion of Sandusky was more negative and pervasive than he thought."
He likewise dismissed claims about Amendola's advice to waive preliminary hearing, failure to conduct pre-trial interviews, Cleland's decision not to allow Amendola and Rominger to resign, and opening remarks from Amendola that included "The Commonwealth has overwhelming evidence against Mr. Sandusky."
Attorney General Josh Shapiro was not the top prosecutor when the case was tried, but he stood by the office's work and approved of the judge's decision.
"We achieved justice for the victims in this case and are confident that these convictions will continue to stand. Hopefully, today's decision will allow the victims of Mr. Sandusky to live their lives knowing that this serial sexual abuser will remain behind bars. We will continue to fight to defend the jury's verdict. I have zero tolerance for the sexual abuse of children, and our office will pursue anyone who preys on children wherever we find them," he said in a statement.
Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence at Somerset state prison. He maintains his innocence, and his wife believes him.
He has 30 days to appeal Foradora's order, according to court documents.
His conviction was followed by a number of civil suits and other criminal cases.
Penn State paid out $93 million in settlements to 33 people claiming abuse. The criminal case involved just 10 victims. The university was also pulled into legal issues with the family of late coach Joe Paterno who was fired over the scandal, the NCAA, its liability insurer, fired president Graham Spanier, whistleblower assistant coach Mike McQueary and Sandusky's now-defunct children's charity, The Second Mile.
Spanier was convicted of one count of misdemeanor child endangerment in March after a trial that included testimony from former athletic director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz, both of whom entered guilty pleas to the same charge two weeks earlier. Curley and Schultz are now on house arrest. Spanier is appealing his conviction.
