State prosecutors are asking the judge in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case to bring in a jury from another county, saying it's needed because of pretrial publicity and the prominent role Penn State plays in its local community.
A motion filed Tuesday by the attorney general's office said coverage of the former coach's arrest on child sex-abuse charges has been ``spectacular in its breadth and intensity.''
Prosecutors say it wouldn't be fair or practical to ask people in Centre County to “insulate themselves” from Penn State, where Sandusky coached football for decades.
The motion asserts an association between the university and community that isn't compatible with jury service in the case.
Sandusky denies the allegations he abused 10 boys over 15 years.
Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola released the following in response to the motion:
Jerry and I have always believed a fair and impartial jury could be selected from a jury pool comprised of Centre County citizens. While we have not yet had an opportunity to review the reasons set forth by the Attorney General as to why that Office has filed a motion with the Court asking that a jury panel from outside Centre County be brought into our Courthouse for jury selection, we are very disappointed with the Attorney General's decision to do so. Jerry's case has drawn national attention as a result of which we feel there's no better place than Centre County from which to select fair minded individuals to sit as jurors in Jerry's case. We will vehemently oppose the Commonwealth's Motion for a change of venire.
