Sandusky's wife a possible "best" defense witness

(CBS News) The defense is expected to call its first witness Monday in the trial of once-revered Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

He's charged with 52 counts involving the alleged sexual abuse of 10 boys over 15 years.

During a dramatic first week of testimony, eight accusers portrayed him as a sexual predator, saying he'd abused them. All were vulnerable "young men ranging from 18 to 28 years old, most raised in unstable homes with no father figure, who turned to Sandusky and his Second Mile charity for help, and hope," observes CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

One of Sandusky's defense lawyers told CBS News he met with his attorneys at his house Friday for more than six hours. Sources have told CBS News that Sandusky is likely to take the stand.

But Jean Casarez, a correspondent for truTV's "In Session," said Sandusky's wife, Dottie, "could be the best witness for the defense."

She told "CBS This Morning: Saturday" co-hosts Jeff Glor and Rebecca Jarvis that's because, "In Centre County, State College, Pennsylvania, Jerry Sandusky was a hero. I mean, he was someone everybody looked up to. He was a coach at Penn State University. He founded The Second Mile, a charity that helped so many. She could try to bring that back to this jury and this courtroom, something that everybody believed in until this happened to try to change the course of this trial to show, wait a minute, stop, maybe there are two sides to this story. Because the defense truly has to be that these children can't be believed that are now adults."

Casarez says, "Spending that time with Jerry Sandusky in his home (Friday), it looks like they're going to put him on the stand. They hinted toward it in their opening statements. And I think Jerry wants to take the stand. Because since he's been charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse and raping children, he's done two interviews. He likes to talk. So I think he very likely may take the stand and the Commonwealth (of Pennsylvania), I'm sure, in the cross-examination will try to get confessions out of him."

Complete coverage: The Penn State Scandal

The judge ruled Friday that Sandusky's lawyers can enter expert testimony saying Sandusky suffers from a personality disorder.

But that would be risky, Casarez points out, saying, "We'll see if the defense does this or not. Because there are pros and cons.

"First of all, histrionic personality disorder, what is it? It is who someone is aggressive, their behavior, their actions, their words. But the point is to get attention. And somebody can even be sexually aggressive, but it's not for a sexual intent. It's just to get attention. And I truly think the defense is going to want this for all of Jerry Sandusky's actions.

"So it sounds great, right? They're going to ask the judge to instruct the jury that he can be found innocent of everything.

"But here's the problem: Now the commonwealth's psychologist (could) actually assess Jerry Sandusky personally. There's an assessment. They ask him questions. All of that can be used against him. There can be a diagnosis. So the psychologist for the commonwealth can tell the jury, if he takes the stand, 'This is a classic pedophile. I assessed him myself. I diagnosed him. He's classic.'

"So, I think the defense may not even do this. But they can if they want to."