Jerry Sandusky’s new attorney, Al Lindsay, says his client did not have a fair trial.
In a new appeal argued in state court on Wednesday, Lindsay said that the child sexual abuse conviction against Sandusky – the former Penn State defensive coordinator – should be thrown out.
“The commonwealth’s entire case was a house of cards resting on testimony that trial counsel should have exposed as incompetent, unreliable and inadmissible,” Lindsay wrote in the appeal, per the Associated Press.
Additionally, Lindsay called for a new trial and wrote that Sandusky’s right to a fair trial was “crushed under a stampede of vitriol, rage and prejudice.”
Sandusky, now 71, was convicted in June 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys but has maintained his innocence.
Like other appeals in the case that have been dismissed, the latest details the changing stories of several victims. Lindsay also said that the case was rushed to trial under the weight of public scrutiny and scrutinized Sandusky's former attorneys.
From the AP:
The petition revisits and elaborates on many of the arguments his lawyers have previously made, including that accusers' stories changed over time and that they may have been motivated by a desire to cash in.
Lindsay argued the case was rushed to trial when public hostility against Sandusky had reached its peak. He said the trial attorneys should have refused to go forward after the judge denied their requests to be taken off the case because they didn't have time to adequately prepare.
The attorneys "essentially abandoned" Sandusky through a series of decisions and failures, Lindsay wrote. A reference by a prosecutor in closing arguments to an interview Sandusky gave to NBC shortly after his arrest violated his right to remain silent, Lindsay wrote. Lindsay also reviewed the accounts told by the accusers, saying they made "multitudes of inconsistent statements."
Per the AP, state prosecutors are “reviewing the petition and plan to respond.” The Pennsylvania Supreme Court already denied a previous appeal in the case.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
