Trial proceedings for former Penn State Assistant Football Coach Jerry Sandusky were officially under way this week in the high profile sexual assault case involving young boys that shook the college world last fall.
The Associated Press reported that three of the 16 jurors and alternates needed for the trial were selected Tuesday morning and jury selection is expected to continue into the coming weeks.
Sandusky faces 52 criminal counts and potential penalties stemming from alleged sexual abuse against 10 boys, officials said. If convicted, he faces life in prison, the AP reported.
But, as the AP story noted, one of the jurors is a woman who has been a football season ticketholder since the 1970s and her husband works for a medical group where the father of a key witness works.
Jean Casarez, a CBS reporter, recounted how she spoke with several people during the jury selection coverage who know Sandusky personally in State College, PA, where Penn State is located. Members of the community, Casarez said, expressed disbelief at the allegations.
"I think it may be difficult," Caserez said in response to a question about whether there could be an impartial jury. "But this is where Jerry Sandusky wants the trial, and he might be smart about it."
Given the fact that Sandusky, and Penn State, have so many supporters in this area of Pennsylvania, along with the intensive media coverage in the case, can Sandusky get a fair trial from an impartial jury? Take our poll and add your thoughts in the comments.
