Jerry Sandusky Jury Watches Reenactment of Testimony - East Idaho News
National

Jerry Sandusky Jury Watches Reenactment of Testimony

  Published at

146159760?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1340377199093Patrick Smith/Getty Images(BELLEFONTE, Pa.) — The jurors deliberating the fate of Jerry Sandusky began their second day of discussions today by watching a reenactment of the testimony of eyewitness Mike McQueary, who said he interrupted what he thought was a sexual assault in the Penn State football team’s showers.

The 2001 incident resulted in a string of charges relating to the boy, known as Victim 2, who was allegedly abused during that incident. Sandusky is charged with 48 counts of child sex abuse stemming from 10 alleged victims, and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

The seven female and five male jurors requested to see a transcript of McQueary’s testimony around 8:30 p.m. Thursday, after seven hours of deliberations, but Judge John Cleland advised them to wait until this morning, noting that McQueary’s testimony is more than two hours long.

Today, prosecutors Joseph McGettigan and Frank Fina reenacted the testimony, with Fina sitting on the witness stand and reading McQueary’s answers to McGettigan. Cleland said McQueary’s testimony will run about two hours.

Victim 2 had never been identified by authorities and McQueary never saw actual sex when he interrupted what he said was skin-on-skin slapping sounds in the Penn State football team’s showers. Alerted by the noise, he said he spotted Sandusky behind a young boy who was braced against a shower wall.

The testimony of a defense witness, McQueary’s family friend John Dranov, was also requested by the jury Thursday night and will be read after McQueary’s testimony today. Dranov testified that McQueary was upset, but told Dranov that he did not see sex taking place. Defense attorney Joseph Amendola and Karl Rominger will reenact Dranov’s testimony, which is expected to last about 20 minutes.

The judge also told the jury that they likely would not be able to request to see any other witness testimony reenacted or read to them during deliberations.

“I understand why this particular exchange might be important to your deliberations, but as a practical matter, we can’t go back and redo the trial, so with regard to other witnesses, unless it is extremely important I’m going to instruct you to rely on your memories,” Cleland said.

Jurors must make their way through all of the 48 counts from the 10 separate alleged victims before returning a verdict, and have been encouraged by Cleland to work long days in order to do so quickly. They are sequestered for deliberations.

The jury began their deliberations Thursday and was sequestered during the night, leaving them unaware that after they started their work Sandusky’s adopted son Matt — who had defended the man who adopted him throughout the investigation — issued a statement saying he had been prepared to tell the jury that he had been sexually abused, too. Matt Sandusky is one of six children Jerry Sandusky and his wife adopted.

Sources close to the case said that Matt Sandusky contacted prosecutors late last week to say that he was willing to testify. Prosecutors couldn’t call him to the stand for direct questioning because he was not included in the charges against his father.

But they could have called Matt Sandusky to the stand as a rebuttal witness if Jerry Sandusky took the stand, sources said. Lawyers for Jerry Sandusky said they were considering allowing him to testify up until the last day of testimony Wednesday.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION