The defense rested its case just before noon ET today and closing arguments will begin Thursday in the trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on charges of sexually abusing young boys, according to reporters from The Associated Press, NPR and other news outlets.
Sandusky did not take the stand in his own defense.
Our Original Post: If Sandusky Is Going To Testify, Today's The Likely Day
The question of the day in Bellefonte, Pa., is whether Jerry Sandusky will take the stand this morning to defend himself against charges that he sexually abused young boys.
All Sandusky's attorney would say about that on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Inquirer notes, is to "stay tuned."
Tuesday, as NPR's Joel Rose tells our Newscast Desk, Sandusky's wife, Dorothy, told the jury that she never saw anything sexual occur between her husband and any of his accusers.
She was on the witness stand for just under an hour, Joel says, and testified that she remembered several of the alleged victims who spent the night at her home as young boys. She described most of her husband's accusers as very nice — although she did remember one of them as a "conniving" young man who "didn't listen a whole lot."
Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, denies charges that he abused 10 boys over 15 years. His arrest last fall rocked the university and led to the firings of legendary head coach Joe Paterno and the university's president. They allegedly didn't do enough to follow up on warnings about Sandusky's alleged behavior.
The defense is expected to call its final witnesses today.
Sara Ganim, the reporter for Pennsylvania's Patriot-News who won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the Sandusky story, writes today that the trial has made clear there "are two Jerry Sanduskys":
"The Sandusky that adults talk about — smart, intelligent, creative. The man who started a charity for young kids, devised a winning strategy for a major college football team. The man who raised a family with an incredibly busy schedule, spoke at football events and fundraisers for his charity, and organized camps.
"And there's Sandusky who comes out when he is with kids. The one he self-describes — in his writings and in interviews with psychologists — as naive, like Forrest Gump, overly emotional and attention-seeking."
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