Paterno's widow, son may testify in Sandusky case

Updated 4:57 PM ET

(CBS/AP) BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Prospective jurors in Jerry Sandusky's case were told on the first day of jury selection Tuesday that the wife and son of the late football coach Joe Paterno were among the potential defense witnesses in the child sex-abuse trial.

The names of Sue and Jay Paterno and members of Sandusky's family were on a list shown to the prospective jurors, along with assistant coach Mike McQueary and his father, John McQueary. Mike McQueary, on leave from the team, has said he saw Sandusky naked in a team shower with a young boy more than a decade ago, and reported it to Joe Paterno.

Mike McQueary is also on the prosecution's list, along with young men who have accused Sandusky of abusing them.

Sandusky, 68, faces 52 criminal counts and potential penalties that could result in an effective life prison sentence. The former Penn State assistant football coach has denied the allegations.

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Meanwhile, the judge overseeing jury selection in the Sandusky child sex abuse case said six jurors have been picked.

Judge John Cleland said Tuesday that three more jurors were picked in the afternoon and that the process would not go past 5:30 p.m.

With six now picked, that leaves 10 more jurors to be selected. The panel will include 12 jurors and four alternates.

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Cleland had told the more than 220 potential jurors he would not sequester them, meaning they can spend nights at home during the trial that is expected to last several weeks. He urged them to avoid news accounts or social media postings.

"No one in the world will know as much about this trial as the people sitting in the jury box," Cleland told them.

Sandusky is attending jury selection, and laughed at some of Cleland's humorous remarks to potential jurors. But when Cleland told the pool the nature of the charge, Sandusky put his head down.

More than 600 summonses were sent out to residents in Centre County, the home of Penn State University. The process of finding the 12 jurors and four alternates could take days.

Cleland addressed the prospective jurors in a somber, packed courtroom inside the courthouse while, outside, scores of journalists lined the front lawn with television cameras and computers waiting for word.

The prospective jurors were taken in groups of 40 for more questions and, ultimately will face one-on-one questioning in a third phase, for those who were not dismissed beforehand.

The jurors are being chosen from among people who live in the State College area, where Penn State's main campus is located. That was a victory for the defense, which argued against bringing in jurors from elsewhere in the state.

Early in the process, several said they knew Sandusky or his wife, Dottie, who was not in court on Tuesday. Others said they or their spouses worked at Penn State. Cleland dismissed five for medical reasons or vacation plans.

Some of the alleged victims are expected to testify during the trial, the opening of which is likely to begin on Monday morning.

Prosecutors have claimed that Sandusky groomed boys he met through a charity he founded for at-risk youth, then attacked them, in some cases in his own home or inside university athletic facilities.

Among the challenges for jury selection are the extraordinarily heavy news coverage of the scandal and the wide reach of The Second Mile, the youth charity Sandusky founded in 1977.