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Last updated on Thursday, March 1, 2012
(UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.) A judge has rejected Jerry Sandusky’s claim that he needs until mid-July to prepare for trial on child sexual abuse charges and ordered Sandusky’s attorneys to be ready by May 14.
(UNIVERSITY PARK, PENN.) A judge has rejected Jerry Sandusky's claim that he needs until mid-July to prepare for trial on child sexual abuse charges and ordered Sandusky's attorneys to be ready by May 14.
In an order filed Tuesday afternoon, Judge John M. Cleland also gave prosecutors seven days to turn over addresses and phone numbers of witnesses identified in investigative materials to Sandusky's lawyers.
Attorneys for the former Penn State assistant football coach filed a request Monday asking for more time to locate and interview witnesses before trial. They also said the May 14 trial date would not leave enough time for Sandusky to obtain records from agencies and individuals identified in the investigation.
Cleland noted that the trial date is still 101/2 weeks away and that if the trial is postponed, there is no guarantee that another issue will not require further delay.
"Delay has a way of begetting delay," Cleland wrote. "Therefore the postponement of a trial should be the last resort, and granted only after all other attempts to remedy the impediments to the conduct of a prompt trial have been exhausted."
Cleland's order also extended the deadlines for Sandusky's lawyers to file pretrial motions.
Sandusky, 68, is charged with 52 counts of child sexual abuse for allegedly molesting boys he met through his charity for disadvantaged children. Sandusky is accused of abusing the boys on the Penn State campus, in his State College home and elsewhere between 1994 and 2008.
The charges, announced in November, touched off a scandal that led to the resignation of university President Graham Spanier and the firing of legendary football coach Joe Paterno.
Two other university officials - athletic director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz - are charged with failing to report child abuse and perjury for allegedly lying to a grand jury about what they were told about allegations against Sandusky.
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