SmashMouth

A jury of seven women and five men will get their first glimpse of the case against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky — and his defense — when opening statements begin inside a central Pennsylvania courthouse.



Sandusky's lawyers and state prosecutors have been under a gag order for months, so their outline of the case to jurors Monday should reveal new details about an investigation that has taken several years.
Sandusky, 68, faces 52 criminal counts that he sexually abused 10 boys over 15 years, allegations he's consistently denied. Sandusky's lawyers were not able to get the judge to delay the trial, and on Friday Judge John Cleland rejected their request to have some or all of the counts dismissed.
Many of the alleged victims are expected to take the stand for the prosecution, and their credibility in jurors' eyes could prove to be the decisive factor in determining the verdict.
But however the case ends, when it comes to getting to the bottom of what happened, the trial will definitely not be the final word.
There are many other questions being asked in a number of forums that would have to be answered for the complete story to come to light.
First and foremost, the state attorney general's office has repeatedly indicated it has an "active and ongoing" related investigation, and the mere existence of the open investigation suggests additional criminal charges could result.
The university has said its president has been in talks with state prosecutors about when he will appear before a grand jury to answer questions, and Penn State disclosed last month that it would cover legal expenses of eight employees who also received subpoenas this year.
Citing a gag order, a spokesman for the attorney general declined to comment on the current status of the investigation, which is also obscured by the secrecy rules that govern operation of investigative grand juries in the state.
There also clearly is a federal investigation, but there are few details beyond the fact that Penn State said that in February it had been issued a wide-ranging subpoena from the U.S. attorney's office in Harrisburg, seeking computer records and other information. Amanda Endy, a spokeswoman for the office, said Thursday that federal prosecutors have not commented on the topic and declined a request to discuss any update.

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