Sandusky abuse trial starts in 4 days

BELLEFONTE, Pa. — The attorneys arguing the child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky have four days to figure out how to sway a jury heavy with connections to the school.

Seven women and five men will hear opening statements Monday in the sweeping case that rocked the university and led to the ouster of Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno.

Four alternates also were chosen Wednesday after jury selection wrapped up in less than two days, a much brisker pace than some observers had expected given the school’s deep roots in this mainly rural part of central Pennsylvania.

But Judge John Cleland had insisted from the start that such connections wouldn’t immediately rule out potential jurors so long as they could pledge to be impartial. Among the 16 jurors total selected, 10 had some tie — either directly or indirectly — to Penn State.

One juror, a woman, is a professor who has taught for 24 years. Another woman has had football season tickets for decades. And one of the male jurors is a student who will be a senior this fall.

Some legal experts said jurors with school connections might be inclined to come down hard on Sandusky, blaming him for Paterno’s firing and the damage to the school’s reputation.

“From the prosecution’s perspective, putting people on the jury with Penn State ties, their assessment might be these people might tend to disfavor Jerry Sandusky and the defense because he’s responsible for dragging Penn State’s name through the mud,” said Chris Capozzi, a defense attorney in Pittsburgh and a former senior deputy attorney general under now- Gov. Tom Corbett.

Capozzi, a Penn State graduate, left the attorney general’s office in 2010. The state grand jury investigation of Sandusky began while Corbett was attorney general.