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Disgraced Former Penn State DC Jerry Sandusky (convicted child molester)

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Can Jerry Sandusky jurors overlook their biases? Analysts say it will be difficult

BELLEFONTE - The seven women and five men who will sit in judgment of Jerry Sandusky starting Monday have all pledged to be fair.
But that doesn?t mean when they enter the jury box that they?ll be able to check their biases at the door.
Legal analysts and attorneys reached by The Patriot-News on Wednesday agreed it is virtually impossible for people to erase all of their inclinations just because they?ve taken an oath. That might be especially true, they said, in the Sandusky case, with its multiple jarring allegations of sexual abuse of boys. It?s difficult for those with children and who work around children to put aside their biases, said Melissa Gomez, a jury consultant from Philadelphia.
?When you have a better understanding of young kids, it makes it more real and makes it all the more upsetting,? Gomez said. ?It?s not really human nature to be able to put those things aside. Your core beliefs, that?s part of who you are. It?s a difficult thing for a human being to do.?
The former Penn State assistant football coach is charged with sexually abusing 10 boys during a period of 14 years. Prosecutors say Sandusky used The Second Mile youth charity he founded to groom his alleged victims.
Gomez and other commentators said that despite the Sandusky defense team?s best efforts this week, some on the panel might have problems fighting back feelings.
Jurors with schoolage children, such as the Bellefonte Area High School teacher with three young children, could be problematic to the defense because ?as a parent, when you have such a sensitive case, your parental instinct takes over and you want to protect kids,? said Bryan McQuillan, a defense attorney from Susquehanna Twp.
As was his practice throughout the process, Sandusky?s attorney, Joseph Amendola, quizzed a part-time dance instructor with a 6-year old about whether she could judge the evidence fairly.
The woman said she could, adding at another point that ?I know that with my son, there are a lot of sides to a story.?
In all, three of the 12 selected jurors have children in the age range of Sandusky?s accusers at the time they claimed they were abused, or younger.
Ties to witnesses are another matter. At least three of the selected jurors stated they have personal connections to witnesses that might be called to testify in the trial.
Some, such as a woman whose husband worked in the same medical practice with the father of star prosecution witness Mike McQueary, could give the prosecution an edge, the legal experts said.
McQueary, a Penn State assistant football coach, has testified he stumbled upon an incident between Sandusky and a boy in Penn State?s football locker room in 2001.
?She?s a dangerous person to the defense,? Gomez said of the woman whose husband knows McQueary?s father.
McQuillan agreed.
?When your husband works with [Mike] McQueary?s father and you have knowledge that Mr. McQueary, the dad, is an honorable, hard-working family man, that could lend credibility to McQueary?s testimony.?
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LightningRod;2163421; said:
Can Jerry Sandusky jurors overlook their biases? Analysts say it will be difficult

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Unfuckingbelievable. After seating a jury where nearly everybody has some kind or connection to somebody involved in the case, or where they have connections to the university or a rooting interest in it's sports teams going back to when Sandusky coached there, the talk about possible bias is focusing on bias against the defense.

This is all just setting up horrifyingly perfectly, isn't it. No venue change means this creep is going to get a friendly jury, and then when they let him off they'll say that the jury overcame their bias toward the welfare of children to reach that verdict.

Here's some news, Central Pennsylvania... Being concerned for the welfare of children is NOT bias. It's just one part of being a decent human being.
 
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jlb1705;2163448; said:
Un[censored]ingbelievable. After seating a jury where nearly everybody has some kind or connection to somebody involved in the case, or where they have connections to the university or a rooting interest in it's sports teams going back to when Sandusky coached there, the talk about possible bias is focusing on bias against the defense.

This is all just setting up horrifyingly perfectly, isn't it. No venue change means this creep is going to get a friendly jury, and then when they let him off they'll say that the jury overcame their bias toward the welfare of children to reach that verdict.

Here's some news, Central Pennsylvania... Being concerned for the welfare of children is NOT bias. It's just one part of being a decent human being.
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We can only hope that the evidence is so overwhelming they'll have to convict. Hopefully if the boneheaded states attorney lose, they will be replaced and will appeal and get the venue moved. I did hear that atleast one of the victims cases is still being investigated by the Feds because they crossed state lines.
 
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AuTX Buckeye;2163450; said:
I did hear that at least one of the victims cases is still being investigated by the Feds because they crossed state lines.
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Victim #4 who will testify first on Monday appeared at PSU bowl games in Texas. #4 today is 28 years old and is bringing love letters written to him by Sandusky along with other tangible items that have not yet been disclosed.
 
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FCollinsBuckeye;2163475; said:
Way to go out on a limb there. :lol:

:p
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Ok then...This board will implode when said juror utters these words following this trial..."This was a Victory for Joe Pa and Penn State and all of Happy Valley today.

EDIT: ORD, not being able to take it anymore will become the Happy Valley Serial Killer and will paint the walls of his victims with the following phrase..."FUCK PENN STATE".
 
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