Noted Philadelphia Attorney Calls Sandusky's Interview A Defense Fumble
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Jerry Sandsuky's television interview concerning the child sex abuse charges against him does not seem to have had the effect his attorney was looking for.
The former Penn State assistant football coach at the heart of a massive sex scandal told NBC News' "Rock Center" on Monday night that he was not a pedophile but, in retrospect, should not have showered with the boys he's charged with sexually assaulting (see related story).
Sandusky's defense attorney, Joe Amendola (at left in photo), said afterward that he had wanted to begin to change Sandsuky's image in the public's mind, but former prosecutor Roy DeCaro, now in private practice in Philadelphia, says the forum they chose was not the way to do it.
"To have the attorney speaking to Mr. [Bob] Costas live and the client by phone, you can't see [Sandusky's] expressions," DeCaro notes. "The attorney has no control whatsoever over what's going to be answered. He can't tell him not to answer certain things. He can't help him out at all."
DeCaro calls the interview "a prosecutor's dream." Amendola did not respond to requests for comment.
Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060
