Penn State Scandal: Jerry Sandusky Waived Hearing To Avoid Increase In Bail

Jerry Sanusky waived his right to a preliminary trial earlier this week, which raised some eyebrows because it means the case heads to straight to trial without Sandusky being able to offer a plea. Now we have a little more clarification on why Sandusky and his attorney decided to go that route. According to the Patriot News, Sandusky's defense attorney waived the preliminary hearing because of an agreement with the state to not raise the bail that Sandusky would have to pay.

Amendola writes, "Jerry would waive his preliminary hearing on Tuesday in exchange for certain assurances from the Commonwealth, the most important of which was an agreement that the Commonwealth would not seek to increase Jerry's bail prior to his trial."

The Commonwealth attorney took this deal to his superiors and contacted Amendola at 7:30 p.m. stating they would accept. They then met in person and confirmed the agreement that would avoid a bail increase for Sandusky.

This makes a lot more sense now that we know there was a concrete reason that Sandusky and his attorneys decided to waive that hearing. The case would have almost certainly gone to trial anyway, so if the defense can get something out of waiving the hearing, that makes sense.