Two defense attorneys who earlier predicted that the jury in the Jerry Sandusky trial would reach a verdict within hours both said late Thursday that jurors likely hit a snag over what Mike McQueary saw in the shower.
But Gunner Gleason, a veteran defense attorney in Cambria County, said that the outcome of the trial doesn’t hinge on McQueary’s testimony alone, and predicted that jurors will convict Sandusky on most of the charges against him.
“If he wins one and loses nine, it’s not going to make a difference regarding his future,” Gleason said of Sandusky, adding that a conviction in a “sizable majority” of the cases would be tantamount to a life sentence.
The jurors concluded deliberations Thursday evening without reaching a verdict.
This morning, they will review two hours of testimony from McQueary, a prosecution witness who said he observed Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the Lasch Building in 2001. They also will review 20 minutes of testimony by defense witness Dr. Jonathan Dranov, who corroborated some of what McQueary testified.
Matt McClenahen, a criminal defense attorney in State College, said he thought the jurors probably had already agreed on the eight cases where they heard testimony in court from the actual accusers.
The boy McQueary allegedly saw Sandusky assaulting has not been identified.
“I would think they could have reached verdicts on most of these charges, especially with live victims,” Mc- Clenahen said. “If they believed the witnesses, they’d have guilty verdicts.”
McClenahen said he also thinks jurors may be hung up on testimony by janitor Ron Petrosky, who told the court about a 2000 Lasch Building shower incident where a colleague told him he witnessed Sandusky performing oral sex on an unidentified boy. That janitor, Jim Calhoun, has dementia and did not testify.
Gleason added that the jurors want to be careful given what’s at stake in the case.
“When you have a case with a lot of different witnesses and a lot of different charges, no jury will rubber stamp,” he said.


Trial watchers weigh in on closing arguments in Jerry Sandusky proceedings

