Sandusky Files New Appeal of Conviction

Jerry Sandusky has appealed his convictions for child sexual abuse, the Associated Press reports.

Sandusky says the criminal proceedings violated his constitutional rights, prosecutors engaged in misconduct and his attorneys were ineffective during his 2012 trial and an earlier round of appeals.

“The commonwealth’s entire case was a house of cards resting on testimony that trial counsel should have exposed as incompetent, unreliable and inadmissible,” wrote his new lawyer, Al Lindsay.

He says Sandusky’s right to a fair trial was “crushed under a stampede of vitriol, rage and prejudice” that warrants a new trial and ultimately the dismissal of charges.

Sandusky, 71, was an assistant coach under Penn State’s Joe Paterno; Sandusky’s arrest led to Paterno’s firing — and ultimately, to NCAA sanctions that penalized the school for several years. Most of those sanctions have since been withdrawn. Sandusky himself was convicted of abusing 10 boys.