Lawyer: Sandusky accusers' plot "ludicrous"
A lawyer for one of the accusers in the child sex abuse case against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky called an allegation by Sandusky's lawyer of collusion among the accusers "ludicrous" and "extremely offensive" on CBS' "The Early Show" Wednesday.
Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing in a Pennsylvania courthouse Tuesday on the more than 50 abuse charges he faces, moving the case to trial. After the hearing, Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola went to the courthouse steps and attacked the accusers' credibility, saying some exaggerated their stories and others wanted to make a profit.
Attorney Michael Boni, who represents the accuser known as Victim 1, denied that his client knew any of the nine other accusers.
"The fact is this: Victim 1 does not know any of the other victims," Boni told "Early Show" anchor Jeff Glor. "He has not spoken with them. He was the first person to come out and bring these charges against Mr. Sandusky, and it is ludicrous, not to mention extremely offensive, for him to level those charges against these victims."
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Sandusky's lawyer didn't dispute whether Victim 1 knows any of Sandusky's other accusers.
"We know for a fact that Accusers No. 2 and 6 know each other, and we believe No. 7 also knows 2 and 6, and it's quite possible that No. 4 knows all of those three," Amendola told Glor.
The grand jury report that revealed the case to the public says that Sandusky met some of his accusers through the Second Mile charity that he founded for needy children. Sandusky has admitted to showering with boys but has maintained his innocence against the charges, which accuse him of sexually abusing 10 boys during a period of 12 years.
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Read the grand jury report (PDF)
Amendola defended the somewhat unorthodox way he's worked to defend his client, which has included making Sandusky available for interviews with NBC and The New York Times where he admitted to horsing around with boys in locker room showers.
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"Jerry Sandusky has had an uphill battle that I've compared to climbing Mt. Everest from the bottom," Amendola told Glor, "and the only way, the only way I think we can give him a chance at a fair day in court is to get his side of his case out, so we've had to act in a very unorthodox way, and I'm sure there are a lot of legal pundits out there scratching their heads saying what are we doing?"
