Perfect Prosecution Verdict in Sandusky Case
June 23, 2012
The jury in the Jerry Sandusky case reached the perfect verdict for the prosecution.
As a former prosecutor who tried a number of multi-count cases, the next worst thing to losing all of the counts is to win them all.
While it is difficult to see any appellate court reversing the verdict in this case (appellate judges have to run for office), since Sandusky was acquitted on a couple of counts, it would be very difficult for him to argue that any decision by the judge so severely prejudiced him that he could not get a fair trial. Remember that in our legal system, a defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial, just a fair one. If the trial was so unfair, why did the jury acquit him on several counts?
In the meantime, he was convicted on enough counts that he will undoubtedly – and justly – spend the rest of his life in prison. While an argument could be made that jail is too good for him, that is all we can do in this world. Perhaps God can conceive of some better punishment for him in the next world. I have a few ideas myself…
In the meantime, the prosecution got a perfect verdict: guilty on enough counts to warrant what will be a life sentence, but not guilty on a few counts, which should insulate the verdict on appeal.
