Attorneys for two alleged abuse victims of Jerry Sandusky said that the former coach's decision to waive his preliminary hearing doesn't make his defense any stronger. Tom Kline, the lawyer for one of the alleged victims, says that he didn't have a clue that the hearing would be called off until he took his seat in the first row of the courtroom behind the prosecution table.
"When I saw the prosecutor, the defense attorney, Mr. Sandusky, and a court reporter head back into the judge's chambers. As a lawyer who has been around courtrooms for over three decades, even I could figure out that something was up," said Kline.
The attorney texted his client to tell him the hearing had been cancelled. He said that his client responded with one word, "Why?"
Joe Amendola, leading the defense for Sandusky, said that there was essentially no point to having the hearing. He said that he wouldn't have been able to thoroughly cross-examine the witnesses and establish a lack of credibility.
Victim Number Four, as identified in the grand jury presentment, released a written statement through his lawyer, Ben Andreozzi. It read in part, "This is the most difficult time of my life. I can't put into words how unbearable this has been on my life both physically and mentally. I can't believe they put us through this until the last second only to waive the hearing." It continued, "Regardless of the decision to waive the hearing nothing has changed. I still will stand my ground, testify, and speak the truth."
Andreozzi said that the victim underlined the word "truth" three times in the copy he sent to Andreozzi.
Preliminary hearings for former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Tim Curley are scheduled for Friday. Both men have been charged with perjury and failing to report abuse.
