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Jerry Sandusky prosecutors leave the jury to mull...evidence[.] (Judge allowing hearsay evidence)
Yahoo! Sports ^ | 6/14/12 | Dan Wetzel

Posted on 06/14/2012 8:14:19 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows

They can't even cross-examine one of the prime witnesses, a former Penn State janitor who now has dementia but alleged a particular graphic 2000 assault in a locker room shower. Judge Cleland allowed hearsay evidence to be admitted, a brutal hurdle for an already challenged defense.

(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: homosexualagenda; namblanylions; pedophile; pedostate; pennstate; sandusky
Regardless of whether Sandusky is guilty (and it's not looking good for him), this is a very troubling decision for several reasons; e.g., handing the defense grounds for appeal, and the danger of setting a precedent thereby.

Would love to hear FReeper thoughts on the matter.

1 posted on 06/14/2012 8:14:25 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
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To: Slings and Arrows

The alternative: No credible witness = no crime?


2 posted on 06/14/2012 8:18:39 PM PDT by lightman (Adjutorium nostrum (+) in nomine Domini--nevertheless, Vote Santorum!)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Will Whoopie Goldberg come to Sandusky’s defense and say that “it wasn’t really rape-rape?”


3 posted on 06/14/2012 8:22:12 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Is his evidence really needed? I’d think all the other evidence should be enough to nail him.


4 posted on 06/14/2012 8:31:03 PM PDT by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: Slings and Arrows
assuming you're a lawyer....

is that slippery slope abrasive or feeling good on your “fat” ass?

If I was a real lawyer...I would have left out Fat ass...Heaesay~

5 posted on 06/14/2012 8:33:44 PM PDT by M-cubed
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To: for-q-clinton

Good questions, and I don’t know the answers. It does stand out like the proverbial sore thumb.


6 posted on 06/14/2012 8:36:56 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Hope they lock this monster away for the rest of his sorry life.


7 posted on 06/14/2012 8:38:27 PM PDT by patriot08 (TEXAS GAL- born and bred and proud of it!)
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To: patriot08

Hopefully cellmate Bubba will say “It’s my turn now....and always.”


8 posted on 06/14/2012 8:41:46 PM PDT by lightman (Adjutorium nostrum (+) in nomine Domini--nevertheless, Vote Santorum!)
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To: Slings and Arrows

An excited utterance, in the law of evidence, is a statement made by a person in response to a startling or shocking event or condition. It is an unplanned reaction to a “startling event”. It is an exception to the hearsay rule.

Because the janitor has dementia he is legally unavailable to testify. His statement to the other janitor were admitted under the “Excited Utterance” exception to hearsay.

While hearsay is generally not admissible because it is deemed inherently unreliable, their are many exceptions where hearsay can legally be admitted and this is one of them. The “excited” nature of the “utterance” is response to a startling even is deemed to make the otherwise hearsay statement more reliable. See Federal Rule of Evidence 803:

http://www.constitutionaldaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=598:evidence-excited-utterance&catid=56:scofflaw-sling-bar-review&Itemid=65


9 posted on 06/14/2012 8:51:11 PM PDT by oldernittany
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To: Slings and Arrows
Regardless of whether Sandusky is guilty (and it's not looking good for him), this is a very troubling decision for several reasons; e.g., handing the defense grounds for appeal, and the danger of setting a precedent thereby. Would love to hear FReeper thoughts on the matter.

Whether he is guilty? Are you serious? I hope the dudes in prison dispose of this garbage the hard way.

10 posted on 06/14/2012 8:54:37 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: Slings and Arrows
Regardless of whether Sandusky is guilty (and it's not looking good for him), this is a very troubling decision for several reasons; e.g., handing the defense grounds for appeal, and the danger of setting a precedent thereby. Would love to hear FReeper thoughts on the matter.

Whether he is guilty? Are you serious? I hope the dudes in prison dispose of this garbage the hard way.

11 posted on 06/14/2012 8:54:56 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: oldernittany

Here the “startling event” of seeing a well respected football coach performing oral sex on an 11 year old cuase to janitor to say something like: Holy crap I just saw Sandusky raping a kid”. That is textbook “excited utterance” and thus the judge was right to let it in. No appellate judge in PA is going to want to reverse this case on that decision. Especially since Appellate Judge in PA are ELECTED positions.


12 posted on 06/14/2012 8:56:13 PM PDT by oldernittany
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To: plain talk
It may be redundant but I wonder if there was a psychological evaluation of Sandusky. He appears to be a textbook example of a pedophile. They have a characteristic psychological profile that could add to the body of evidence.
13 posted on 06/14/2012 10:08:32 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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