The first day of testimony from witnesses for the defense in the Jerry Sandusky trial ended suddenly on Monday afternoon. Just one hour into the session, Judge John Cleland adjourned court until Tuesday morning, citing "technical issues" with some of the witnesses. The Judge also laid out a schedule for the week that could see the end of arguments from the defense as soon as Thursday.
Judge Cleland did not elaborate on the issues with the witnesses. He said that testimony would resume on Tuesday morning, and also said that he expected the defense to rest by Wednesday. That would be followed by a rebuttal from the prosecution before the matter is handed over to the jury.
Four witnesses were called to the stand on Monday, mostly as character witness. Witnesses on the stand included two former Penn State coaches, a former Second Mile board member who testified to knowing Sandusky well, and a former youth counselor who noted that kids with troubled backgrounds can be difficult to predict. All of the testimony was designed to case doubts on the accusations against Sandusky and the damning testimony from alleged victims.
Prosecutors also requested a complete transcript from Sandusky's infamous interview with Bob Costas from NBC containing unaired portions of the interview.
Costas challenged Sandusky's statement that he got to know young people and got close with them in the interest of helping. Sandusky replied:
"Well -- you might think that. I don't know. In terms of -- my relationship with so many, many young people. I would -- I would guess that there are many young people who would come forward. Many more young people who would come forward and say that my methods and -- and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life. And I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped. There are many that I didn't have -- I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways."
That could complicated matters if the defense opts to put Sandusky on the stand before arguments in the trial end.
Continue following this storystream for more news on the entire Penn State scandal, including the Graham Spanier investigation and the Jerry Sandusky trial.