As the appeals process continues in one of the most notorious cases nation wide, Jerry Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola sat down with CBS 21 to talk about what he believes went wrong, leading to his client's conviction.
Amendola says Sandusky's case is the most difficult one he's ever had to prepare for, calling it an impossible task.
Joe Amendola says that he was set up for failure from the very beginning. He says he only had four-and-a-half months to prepare to save a man from life in prison.
In the end Amendola failed and there are many things he says he would have done differently.
Jerry Sandusky's attorney sat down with us at his office in State College to talk about what he thinks went wrong in his efforts to prove his client's alleged innocence.
“Well gee, he was convicted of forty counts of terrible crimes. Of course there are things I would have done differently,” explained Amendola. “I'd have to be an idiot to say no, but hind sight is always 20/20 and you're dealt the hand you're dealt.”
The number one hurdle Amendola says was something he had no control over. The amount of time he spent preparing for trial.
Because a judge denied a continuance several times, he had only four-and-a-half months to get ready. On top of that, the boxes of evidence he had to go through were stacking up and stacking up quickly.
“All of this was flooding into us, which we were trying to decipher, to come up with other ways to show that these accusers might well be lying, which was what Jerry was saying and we were cut off the pass,”
It’s not fair, Amendola says especially since the lawyers for the other two Penn State officials charged with lying about what they knew have a lot more time to get ready for their trials.
“And then you look at Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, over a year later and still no date now, I’m sure the January 13 date will go by the wayside,” Amendola cited. “The preliminary hearing is next month, and you look at their case, with two charges, one equal to a traffic ticket, it doesn't look right.”
Something else that didn't look right, Amendola says, was the interview with Bob Costas. Looking back, Amendola wishes he would have handled that differently.
“Obviously, Monday morning quarterbacking is great,” Amendola continued. When we asked him if he wishes he would have coached Sandusky, he replied, “not coached, but I would've said to Bob Costas, look, here's a list of questions you are allowed to ask jerry and he would've known the answer because it was simple, I'm innocent.”
Going back even further, Amendola wonders if he was even the right guy for the job.
“The longer I stayed in, the harder it got for me to say, maybe I want to get out,” Amendola told us. “I kept thinking somebody else would jump in, maybe nationally high profile.”
Amendola stayed and working with a small team he says he did the best he could. But he’s not giving up on Sandusky, who still proclaims he's innocent.
“I think based upon what I know, if I had been a juror, I would have had reasonable doubt,” concluded Amendola.
We also asked Amendola if he wishes he would have allowed Sandusky to testify at trial. Amendola says we'll never know, but looking back we wouldn't have had anything to lose by Jerry testifying.
Amendola says Sandusky's case is the most difficult one he's ever had to prepare for, calling it an impossible task.
Joe Amendola says that he was set up for failure from the very beginning. He says he only had four-and-a-half months to prepare to save a man from life in prison.
In the end Amendola failed and there are many things he says he would have done differently.
Jerry Sandusky's attorney sat down with us at his office in State College to talk about what he thinks went wrong in his efforts to prove his client's alleged innocence.
“Well gee, he was convicted of forty counts of terrible crimes. Of course there are things I would have done differently,” explained Amendola. “I'd have to be an idiot to say no, but hind sight is always 20/20 and you're dealt the hand you're dealt.”
The number one hurdle Amendola says was something he had no control over. The amount of time he spent preparing for trial.
Because a judge denied a continuance several times, he had only four-and-a-half months to get ready. On top of that, the boxes of evidence he had to go through were stacking up and stacking up quickly.
“All of this was flooding into us, which we were trying to decipher, to come up with other ways to show that these accusers might well be lying, which was what Jerry was saying and we were cut off the pass,”
It’s not fair, Amendola says especially since the lawyers for the other two Penn State officials charged with lying about what they knew have a lot more time to get ready for their trials.
“And then you look at Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, over a year later and still no date now, I’m sure the January 13 date will go by the wayside,” Amendola cited. “The preliminary hearing is next month, and you look at their case, with two charges, one equal to a traffic ticket, it doesn't look right.”
Something else that didn't look right, Amendola says, was the interview with Bob Costas. Looking back, Amendola wishes he would have handled that differently.
“Obviously, Monday morning quarterbacking is great,” Amendola continued. When we asked him if he wishes he would have coached Sandusky, he replied, “not coached, but I would've said to Bob Costas, look, here's a list of questions you are allowed to ask jerry and he would've known the answer because it was simple, I'm innocent.”
Going back even further, Amendola wonders if he was even the right guy for the job.
“The longer I stayed in, the harder it got for me to say, maybe I want to get out,” Amendola told us. “I kept thinking somebody else would jump in, maybe nationally high profile.”
Amendola stayed and working with a small team he says he did the best he could. But he’s not giving up on Sandusky, who still proclaims he's innocent.
“I think based upon what I know, if I had been a juror, I would have had reasonable doubt,” concluded Amendola.
We also asked Amendola if he wishes he would have allowed Sandusky to testify at trial. Amendola says we'll never know, but looking back we wouldn't have had anything to lose by Jerry testifying.