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Jury Selection Completed in Sandusky Case

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A jury is in place for the child sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky, with the case set to begin next week.    It took a little less than two days to pick a panel to hear the charges against the former Penn State assistant football coach.

The panel of 12 jurors and 4 alternates was picked from a group of about 80 questioned by the attorneys and Judge John Cleland.   The main jury consists of 7 women and 5 men.  Many of the jurors have ties to Penn State University.

Opening statements by prosecutors and Sandusky’s defense lawyers are scheduled to begin on Monday morning.  The judge turned down another request for a continuance during jury selection.

Courtroom

Rulings Issued Ahead of Sandusky Trial

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The judge has issued several rulings ahead of the start of jury selection June 5th in the Jerry Sandusky trial.

The media will not be allowed to tweet, blog or communicate electronically from the courtroom during the child sexual abuse trial of the former Penn State assistance football coach. Judge John Cleland  reversed part of an earlier Decorum Order that would have allowed reporters to tweet during the trial.

The judge has also denied requests from alleged victims 3,4,5 and 7 to keep their identities concealed during the trial.  In his ruling, the judge said that there is no support in Pennsylvania law for offering anonymity to an adult witness because the witness is one of a class of victims of a particular crime.

Judge Cleland is denying a request by Sandusky’s lawyer to order prosecutors to turn over information they collected about potential jurors.

Later in the day, the state Supreme Court denied a request to delay the trial. Sandusky’s attorneys had turned to the state’s highest court after the judge and a state Superior Court panel also rejected the motion to delay.