media each and ever everyone as an individual that he or she chooses but the notes that very have taken during the trial will be destroyed. we have gotten that from the court just this evening. >> it is 10:00 on the east coast. 7:00 p.m. on the west coast. i'm shepherd smith in new york. breaking news on fox news channel. the verdict reached in the sexual abuse trial of coach semper formerly of penn state university. 48 counts in all which could land him with a sentence if convicted on all of them of more than 450 years in prison if convicted on all of the counts he he will never be a free man again. two of the lawyers who have been covering -- we are expec expecting the verdict will begin to be read in just a short time. the proceedings will happen inside the courtroom and once court is adjourned then we will be allowed to publish the verdict and we will do that here for those of you looking for on the record with greta van susteren we will join it

already already in progress once the verdict it read. set your dvr for a rerun 1:00 eastern, midnight central time right here on fox news channel. two of the lawyers who covered this with us are fox news legal analyst arthur ayudala and randy zellen on the live line for us tonight. randy taking the side for the purposes of our sort of i don't know observance of the court in studio b it is possible in his estimation that the jury might see this differently than much of the outside word appears to. if you would, randy, make your case as you have each day on studio b. >> with the caveat that a quick verdict might seem to indicate convictions, i stand behind what i have been saying throughout which is with these kinds of horrific allegations you have to put aside the anger and emotion and vengeance and

look for not just the evidence of the accusers who have come in years and years later for some other objec objective corroboration. an eyewitness with no skin in the game. physical evidence. confession from the defendant. absent of those critical pieces of evidence coupled with the evidence that the police tried to get stories together and g t getting the victims to say the same things, the absence of these objective witnesses and evidence that maybe some people testified differently now than from what they said to people right after the incident took place in my mind there should be acquittals. i don't know with this verdict that there will be he but i think the evidence simply is not there to send this guy to his death because he will die in jail. >> randy, thanks. arthur studio b legal contributor and defense attorney here in the tri-state area. arthur this has been so difficult to read about. i can't imagine being in the courtroom for it as a defense

attorney were you in there with your client right now, how in the world do you prepare them for the next half hour? >> you always i mean i always prepare them for the worst. i don't care what my thoughts are, i always them them the likelihood is youle go down to the district attorney's office and have the conviction rate of 80% or 90%. i will tell you where i personally have been caught off guard is cases where i thought i was going to get a good verdict and i didn't and then the judge looks at you and now you heard guilty and you are like all shaken up and the judge says give me all of the reasons why i shouldn't put your client in jail right now. if i'm mr. sandusky's attorney right now, i'm taking a legal pad and writing out 25 reasons why mr. sandusky should sleep home tonight. that he has never fled and been to court every time. everyone nows who he is. his face is nationally publi publicized. let him give you the passport and ought on an ankle bracelet and spend the last weeks of his life a free man out with his

family. >> i think one of the more difficult aspects of this, you can't pet past what the young men say that they -- can't get past what the young men say that they he went through as children and that, of course, is the primary concern here. beyond that the possibilities for the penn state university community. there are allegations that some in the penn state family were enablers here and some should have been able to stop it, some very big games and if in fact there is conviction tonight there are two perjury charges against two penn state university officials pending. an investigation or a number of investigations that will be underway. and beginning with tonight and this is just the beginning the ramifications for that fine american public institution are really hard to wrap your hands around. >> it is a scar that will not be lifted for generations. for generations. unfortunately, penn state pen pending this verdict will have gotten the reputation of joe paterno and their awesome football program and a stellar

university whether we like it or not it will be known for the sex scandal. that is reality. and it is a sad reality because i would venture to say there were hundreds of thousands of people who have passed through that university or taught there report maintenance men there or took care of the fields and the fans there that are great people and it takes one horrible person because if he gets convicted there is nothi g nothing -- that is the best thing you could say about him. if he really raped these boys he is a horrible human being. he is defective to the core. and there is no place for him to be except locked in a cage. >> there are wider allegations that those at penn state were enabling h him that the university -- i'm not saying this is the case but the allegations exist and charges in place to suggest that penn state if not facilitated it at times looked the other way in a manner in which it should not have and the lack of institutional control here is something that some analysts

have suggested and i'm not sa saying i concur with this but some analysts have suggested could cause long-term very horrible problems for that great american public institution. >> no matter how big their endowment is the school could go bankrupt. what is a lawsuit worth? a 10-year-old boy or 11-year-old boy. if it it is proven that the head of the university or head of the football program knew or basically should have known because it was put in his lap and they did nothing and this young man has been tortured his entire life and these people become alcoholics and drug addicts because of the torture they went through at that young age what is that worth? what is your life worth when it is taken from you at 10 years old or 11 years old or 12 years old by a man of authority in a prestigious university and the people in charge and could have stopped it didn't stop it? whether it was financial reas n reasons, ego, prestige of the university, whatever it was.

those young men if this man is found guilty they deserve to be compensated. muscle our system the only thing -- unfortunately in our system the only thing they can do is give them money. they can't give them security. all that hate and self-loathing that many victims experience, there is nothing you you can do but help them the best you can and that is money. and whatever justice or -- of course, this is greta van susteren's time lot on the record. it will air in its entirely at 1:00 eastern time. greta is on the line. your thoughts? >> i have been in this situation where you are waiting for verdict. in a case like this where you have multiple allegations it is very, very difficult even for

an innocent person to withstand such accusations and the jury has a tough job because the jury has to overcome all of the horrible things. all of the horrible things in the allegations. i will tell you when you you have more than one person accuse you of the same thing even though then because they are being tried in same case it is very, very hard for a defense attorney to get an acquittal. i would not feel confident if i was the defense lawyer sitting there waiting for the jury to come back in. >> we spoke briefly against the perjury allegations against the two penn state officials and larger ramification for the penn state university and its family. your thoughts on this process which is clearly just beginning with this tonight. >> oh, yeah. the civil judgments coming down the road are going to be incredible. you have the university essentially the representatives from the university liying to cover up. it's terrible and it is going to cost the university a lot of money and cost their reputati n reputation. everything you can think of is going to hurt this university.

but this university will recover. i mean these things sound so horrible when they are happe happening in terms of you don't think they will ever recover in the midst of it but six months, eight months, a year from now i think people will begin to forget this a little bit. never forget the hourible stain on the university but new students and professors and program. the money judgments will be paid. the insurance company letts pay the judgments and the state will be able to move on and its football program will get up and running again. you don't try to penalize everybody for actions of a few. in this instance the criminal action. >> unless and until there is a ruling of a lack of instituti n institutional control. that happened at southern meth methodist university back in the day about charges that are no where near the sort of accusations faceed by again tht great public institution. >> also this is going to be a huge lesson to anybody else out

there listening to this or any other university with problems like this or any high school or any other organization that is looking the other way knowing that there are allegations g going on involving young peop people, children. this is is wakeup call to everybody else. the american people better list son this one. if you know something speak up. people get horribly harmed by the activities of these accuse accusations. >> greta, we are seeing some activity outside the courthouse right now and reporters are running out. it would appear that court has adjourned and we are about to learn something. let's list. >> and i can tell you they are nervous. >> let's listen, greta. >> we were not allowed to do any reporting until the court had adjourned for the evening. is it possible that that has happened? [ applause ] >> what we just heard in the background was guilty and applause but that is not so say

that is what happened. we are waiting to hear from our folks inside the courtroom and will come out to the camera at which you are looking right now. jerry sandusky has learned his fate and we are about to learn what it is. our correspondent is david lee miller and our producer in the courtroom is a young lady by the last name of bush and in the control room if you could help me with her first name. shira bush is her name inside the courthouse for us in pass for the duration of the trial. it is my understanding that jerry sandusky is guilty of abuse in this case. jerry sandusky you see it at the bottom of the screen. though i haven't been told it. no one in the booth has told me what we are putting at the bottom of the screen. producers? dalbail has been revokeed. do i not know -- i do not know specifically that -- i have not heard from our people except now i can confirm jerry sandusky has been found guilty.

it was guilty on all counts? do i not yet know. we should know in just a mome t moment. jerry sandusky knows now, arthur and we will in a matter of seconds. >> bail is revoked. he will probably never see the daylight again. when walked into that door. >> david lee miller what are you hearing? >> david lee miller iraq you with us? >> i'm with you. >> what do we know? >> bail has been revoked. he will go to the county jail. i'm also told that some members of his family are crying. among them his son. now, i just received a break breakdown of the charges. this relates to victim number one involuntary dive jet sexual interguilty. count two, guilty. indiesent assault. guilty. unlawful contact with minors guilty. corruption of minors guilty. one charge he is not guilty of,

endangering the welfare of children. but it looks like prehe dominantly found him gumm guiln the bulk of the charges and when the verdict was told to the public outside the courthouse there was a huge cheer. many people relieved at the courthouse this evening. shepherd? >> guilty on 45 counts in all. and it would appear that jerry sandusky the former assistant football coach at penn state university a man known as second to it the man around whom the sun rose and set, joe paterno, who started the second mile foundation, seen as almost god like to hear it from people at penn state in all that he had done for so many children in that university we know now that some of those very kids who were in the second mile foundation and in that second mile charity were among those he is now guilty of abusing. he is guilty of anally raping little boys over a period of 15

years. he denied it and denyied it and denied it until a stream of victims came forward in this courtroom to explain what he did to them as little boys as young as 10 years old over a period of many years. the allegation is that a janitor at penn state saw it and didn't do enough. the allegation is that another coach there mike mccrery saw him anally raping a child in a bathroom and went to joe paer paterno as the story goes and somehow it went no further that they asked that this investigation be i believe the word was as careful as possible with the prosecution. when the first new round of allegations came up they had but one prosecutor on the case. and it was a year before they realized that there had been a previous investigation of coach jerry sandusky. a solid year. live pictures now. this is the team.

that is the man in question. >> jerry, what do you want to say to the second mile kids. >> what do you want to say to the victims? >> what do you want to say about the verdict? >> what do you want to say to the victims? >> what do you want to say so the victims? >> do you want to get that cleared? >> just go straight back.

>> rot in hell. >> there will into doubt be an appeal. there always is. but jerry sandusky most likely has stepped into a car a free man for the last time. i didn't make out what he said but you certainly made out that from the audience there. it was very difficult to hear these allegations and to hear these young men talk about what had happened to them over the years and it was very difficult reminding all of us who disseminate information these are allegations he has not been found guilty of anything. now, he has. for at least 15 years he raped little boys who came to him through his family and on the reputation of penn state

university to be protected. most often these children were those without a father figure at home and their parents sent him into the good hands of a man who had created a foundation, a charity for little boys who needed help. they trusted him. they trusted their little boys with him. they sent their little boys to his home and to games and to the penn state practice facilities. he got them tickets according to the testimony to guarantee their silence. he told one according to testimony they will never believe you and laughed in his face as one young victim said i'm going to get the police on you. according to the testimony, he laughed and said they will never believe you. and along the way those who witnessed used this uncomfort uncomfortable par lance of this crime that has been in the shadows and in the quiet for generations now, when a woman is raped those who discuss it

say she was raped and again and again and again through the course of this trial and this investigation we have heard of sex acts in the bathroom. these were not sex acts. these were the predatory assaults of a criminal and partly because according to the analysts we weren't able to use the exact words that should have been in continued. and they looked the other way. and one after another came into his grasp and one after another found himself a victim of this predator who toll their livel livelihood, stole their chil childhood away and left them crying on a witness stand about what the fine man from pennsylvania state university had done to them. this is the beginning. it is most likely the end for jerry sandusky. but it is the beginning for the

rest of those who were involved with this in any way and sadly it is the beginning for penn state university. as sad as most anything i ever covered, arthur. >> and i'm looking at the jur jury's verdict, shepherd, and what is interesting is there is a lot of appe appellate issuesn off the table. the first five counts is guilty and the sixth is not guilty. and then almost ten counts guilty and then a not guilty. another not guilty. >> another thing of note, he is guilty of something against each of the victims. there was not one victim who did not get some sort of guilty charge. and david lee miller is outside the courtroom. i suppose it is possible we will hear from the defense attorneys. it is possible we will hear from the state's attorneys and again possible that we will hear from jurors as well. >> i expect we will be hearing shortly from the attorney general who came here tonight in anticipation that there was

going to be a verdict. you know, when you take a look at the 45 counts or so he has been found guilty of, i took a quick look at the verdict sheet here and from what i see here, it sounds like when you look at every victim there were 8 accusers here. actually that spoke at the trial. ten in total. there is a guilty charge connected to at least every victim. there is some charge tied to every single victim here. so this is an incredibly successful prosecution. the not guilty charges are but a few and appear to be things like indecent assault or lesser charges. the very, very he serious charge that could get him 20 years in prison, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse he was repeatedly found guilty of and i think that speaks to the success of this prosecution team. they were very tight lipped during the trial. they did not speak with the media. occasionally there were leaks from the defense.

the defense seemed to revel in leaking information. though thought they were going to be successful up until 24 hours ago when this case chan e changed dramatically. one thing worth noting here is that the defense seemed to end their case with a real wimper. when jerry sandusky did not take the witness stand they only had a character witness as their final -- as the final witness to take the stand and by all courtroom observers here he simply didn't do the job. don't hold up to the scrutiny of the prosecution and in fact the prosecution pointed out although the witness described him as a father figure the young man's own family and uncle called the prosecution inquiring about the relation relationship and called the prosecution the night after this junge man testified sort of undermining this man's claims that jerry sandusky was as man with a golden heart. as we now know, it was anything

but. >> david lee from our correspondent inside the courtroom. you can see the hugging going on. live pictures there in bellef n bellefonte pennsylvania. among those still in the courtroom that was dottie sandusky you are seeing there. from the reporting of our correspondent inside the courtroom this as of four minutes ago, victim number six who we will not name is still in the courtroom. says he cannot talk. is too emotional. and is being hugged by his family to suggest that this is over for those victims is not for us to do. judge napolitano there are other accusations out there. one from a man who has come forward to nbc news. another from his own son. adopted son but his own son that said he, too, is a victim of abuse. i suppose you could bring the counts forward. is the possibility for appeal

such that you might do that? >> i think it is unlikely that the government will prosecute him for anything that wasn't encompassed in the case because the judgment of the jury was so overwhelming and the punishment will effectively be for the rest of his life. could he be charged in federal court? yes, he could. could he be charged in texas? yes, he could. could they charge him again for raping his adopted son? yes, they could. i think probably the government of pennsylvania probably wants to get this behind them. penn state wants to get this behind them. penn state would be wise to settle the cases and not put the kids through discovery and trials again and turn a page in its great history. >> of course, it is bigger than all of that there. the perjury counts out and there is the question of institutional control. that is the biggest thing in my estimation that remains is did penn state as a university look the other way. it is much like a corporation

would have accusations within the corporation for instance one of your colleagues you told and one of your colleagues knows then your colleague goes to a supervisor in your compa y company. if a supervisor in the company knows then the company knows and then the company has to take actions which would be appropriate in the wake of such a thing. i'm certainly not saying that penn state didn't do the right thing at any point. that is for others to decide. but that question is on the table. and if it is at some point ruled that there was a lack of institutional control the entity which is penn state somehow knew of these problems and did nothing about these problems looked away from their man with the golden heart and foregot about the children who were making the accuseations then the problems for penn state are incalcluable. >> i think penn state will open up its checkbook and that of the insurance carriers so this

will go away. you could defend this case aggressively or defend it very compassionately. i think penn state wants to address it compassionately and find a dollar figure to the extent from is one that adequately compensates the kids for the horrific thing hass happened to them and then penn state wants to move on. >> can money always make this sort of thing go away? could the claim be made at some point i'm not suggesting this is the case, but i'm asking if the claim could be made if the institution as a whole if the managers to use corporate pa parlance were to know and did nothing, is it bigger than money? for instance, when smu got the death penalty in athletics it did so because it lost institutional control and ended its football program. >> as a criminal lawyer can criminal charges be brought. they could not i don't believe here because of the statute of

limitation issue if evidence came out there was so much knowledge that it was almost like a conspiracy, in other words that they were allowing him to do that. >> that is a question. >> correct, that they were al u alouing him to do it and it was blatantly going on. i don't know exactly what the statute of limitations, could the people be brought up on criminal charges? they could be. i don't know. having dealt with victims, i represent these victims. there is usually in terms of the emotional healing process that jail aspect that means a lot to them. the money means a lot to them because a lot of them when they suffer these injuries they have real problems functioning in our society. waking up at a certain time, getting -- it is always in your brain. i just, just, just represented a guy who his football coach when was 11 years old in the locker room come in and shoot hoops with us and when you are done young man you have to take a shower and in would come the

big heavy set coach and rathe r him up and hug him and pick him up and down. evangelicals was he was a son a prestigious family and he would wrap the seatbelt around his arm to get the vain up to put the heroin in to forget the pain that he felt. he is in the daily new york daily news telling these stories. there is nothing you could do to get your soul back because these guys, shepherd, they steal your soul. when you are little kid like that and they do that to you they steal your soul. so everything that you could do to help them if it's money, if it's justice, i know the young men there has to be a portion of the healing process to see that guy in handcuffs and why he is han handcuffed in the frt and why he is geting that courtesy because you know more cops than i do but guys who are in handcuffs get handcuffed behind their back.

that is a courtesy. that is a courtesy. a guy who is facing 400 some odd years in jail who just got convicted of deviate, deviate, that is a horrible word. why does he get that? nobody gets that. you get handcuffed behind your back when going to state prison for the rest of your life. that annoyed me. >> it as perpetrator walk for the ages. our producers listened to the video of him coming out. it is clear he said something but we don't know what. we will play this audio full for you to listen. >> what do you want to say to the second mile skids? what do you. >> what do you want to say to the victims? >> what do you want to say to the victim? >> what do you want to say to the victims? >> want to get that cleared?

>> watch that car. >> can't see that. >> just go straight back, hall. >> and off goes jerry sandusky. we now wait to hear from the attorney general of the state of pennsylvania. we wait to hear from the defense attorneys who assured our folks on the ground prior to all of this they would be speaking afterward. they spoke earlier and were apparently admonished by the judge for doing so. his own defense attorney is said to have uttered and did in a news conference that he would have a heart attack if he were found not guilty on all counts. there will be no heart attack tonight. live pictures now and waiting to hear whether we will hear from frolick some of the juro e

case. they may speak if they wish. they don't have to speak if they don't want to. each individual juror conducts him 168 in his or other own way as he or she sees fit. what went on in the jury room we may know soon enough. it is 10:30 on the east coast. 7:30 p.m. o on the west coast. this is fox news channel breaking news coverage of the verdict in the penn state university sexual abuse count charges against the former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky. guilty on 45 counts. guilty and bond revoked. and taken away to a nearby ja jail. sentencing is jet to yet to co. and these are the last pictures we have and presumabley the lat pictures we will have of him as a free -- well, he was and the free he man at this moment. but the last pictures we will have of him walking around. greta van susteren is the host of this hour and her program will be seen in its entirely tonight 1:00 a.m. eastern time. midnight central time. greta is on the line with us.

what do you see next here? >> apparently we lost the connection with greta van susteren. it is my assumption that is what happened. david lee miller is back live on scene with the producer inside the courtroom. david lee, i would very much like to talk to her if possible or handle it as you wish. go ahead. >> she is right here and i think what we all want to hear is describe for us what happe happened when the verdict was read by the jury the reaction of the sanduskys and everyone else. >> it was surreal to be in there and witness this. the whole courtroom. the hush fell over the crowd and i think we all kind of expected this type of verdict especially since amendolla came and talked to us and set the expectations for us. when the verdict came in jerry kept his eyes o on the juror block. be didn't make any real expression. didn't put his head down,

didn't say nothing. just sat and stared. that is something we have seen since we have been covering this the past go wee two weeks. tonight he just stared come pleatly at the jurors. his wife was also in the courtroom with some of their adopted children and a lot of support hes who have been with them throughout this and she had a very, very sad look on her face. never cried. put her face down at times. very sad. one of the adopted sons when the verdict came down started crying in his hands. people started putting their arms around each other. it looked like they might even be praying together after the verdict was read. but you novicible reaction from jerry. clearly very upset we are sure. this was his last day out and he is now on his way to prison. and you would not have known that he might be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison by the way he react. >> victim number six there was. describe what happened? >> sitting with looked like

maybe some siblings and some parents. and after the verdict was read he was sobbing. they were hugging and crying and reporters went over to him to ask his reaction to see if he had any comment and he couldn't speak. he literally couldn't talk. reporter said are you too emotional and he just couldn't even get the words out and this went on for several minutes where he was so emotional. and it was quite a sight to see inside there, david. >> shepherd, do you have a question? >> i was just wondering if they polled the individual jurors and if you saw any emotion on the faces of the jurors. they have sat through the kind of thing that must have been life changing for each and every one of them. >> yeah, that is right. when they walked in i noted that they all seemed really relaxed and seemed really hap y happy. some of them were smiling and some were chatting. one the jury was read, though, you know, they weren't going to smile and act like this is a happy day. they were all serious.

you know, throughout this whole thing they took it ear justice they had over two hours ofusil. testimony reread to them this morning. clearly this was something th wanted to get right and had a lot of pressure on them to get it right and seems like a lot of people here tonight think they got it right. >> speaking of getting it right it was the defense who got it wrong. they really miscalculated. they had the option of having a change of venue and a different jury he elsewhere. they thought that the entire country heard with the scanda l and they felt that no where but in bellefonte could he get a fairer trial. may have got a fairer trial but the outcome wasn't one that the defense wanted and in retrospect that may have been a bad call. >> i don't know that i ever heard a defense counsel or ra e rarely so openly pessimistic about his or her chances as we were approaching deliberations from a jury.

the defense you h heard him. very unusual and uncharacteristic for any defense attorney but especially this defense attorney. from beginning he was saying that not only was jerry sandusky claiming his innocence but he had a good chance of g t getting him acquitted. he maintained that position up until the last few hours. i talked to sources close to the defense just yesterday and they were joking about going to disney -- going to disneyland and obviously now there is nothing but for them to celebrate. right here is karl. we are on live. can we have you for one second, karl? >> no. >> your reaction to the verdi t verdict? >> let's go. >> we are disappointed but we going to appeal. >> what are the grounds for the appeal, karl? >> karl, are you -- >> i'm sorry.

>> all right. we will speak to karl next. as you can see, there is nothing less than a media frenzy out here and everyone viying for the same half dozen players. but what we will say tonight is largely something -- to the microphone is david lee. let's listen. david lee has been doing this for the better part of 25 years and terrific at it. we will flare all of them in a moment. >> ile make general comments and if you have questions you can ask. can you hear me now? >> yes. >> yeah. >> david lee was speaking with cocounsel for the defense the e there. now, the defense attorney, the lead defense attorney who was so pessimistic earlier. listen. >> the sandusky family hav is y disappointed by the verdict of the jury but we respect their verdict. you may recall for those of you

who have been with the case from the beginning that we said that we had a tidal wave of public opinion against jerry sandusky and the charges filed against him. that he had been determined to be guilty by the public and the media from the very outset of the charges and that we had an uphill battle. i used the analogy that we were attempting to climb mount everest from the bottom of the mount. obviously we didn't make it. we always felt, we always felt that jerry's fairest shake would come from a center county jury and we still believe that. the jury obviously believed the commonwealth's evidence and the commonwealth witnesses. that is clear from their verdict. i have been asked to already inside is that a surprise and no, actually it was the expec expected outcome because of the overwhelming amount of evidence against jerry sandusky.

you may also recall that we a k asked for a continue wan on a number of occasions on the basis that we needed more time to sift through the thousands of pages of materials to determine what other types of defenses we might have but due to judicial constrictions we were forced to proceed to trial at this time. i think most of you would have agreed with me that had someone said last november and december we would have a trial in early june you would have agreed that was not very likely at all and yet here we are with a trial now that has concluded and it is still the latter part of june after three weeks in court. we have some appeal issues we will pursue. we feel we have some decent appeal issues. i do want to say this. the prosecution handled the case in an exemplary manner. they are professionals. they presented their case in a solid fashion.

we congratulate them. the judge in this case was marvelous. the judge was the ultimate ju i jurist. he was fair. he was firm. he was reasonable with everything we he asked for. the only disagreement obviously we had was our request for a continuance but aside from that it would be my privilege to serve in a case in front of the judge knowing that he would give counsel a fair shake at a fair trial. we believe he did an outstanding job. again, as request any case there are issues which we will take up on appeal. a number of people have asked me he about what happened with jerry sandusky not testifying after we spoke about that. now, i can talk about it. we had a gag order in place which prevented us from doing so. but late last thursday

afternoon just before the commonwealth was to close its case the commonwealth asked the court to allow the commonwealth to keep its case open. at least overnight because it had just come in to information that it wanted to investigate. later thursday evening i received a call from the commonwealth attorneys at which time they indicated to me matt sandusky had done gon had goned contacted them late thursday afternoon and made a statement to them thursday evening indicateing that jerry abused him years earlier and they were thinking about introducing matt sandusky as a witness at jerr jerry's trial in the matter. i objected. the court was involved in the conversation. i indicated that our whole case was predicated with jerry testifying. and jerry had always wanted to testify. however, the next day the commonwealth attorney advised me it would not call matt

sandusky in its case in chief, that it would reserve the right to call him as a rebuttal witness depending on what evidence we presented. that created a real dilemma for us because if we called jerry sandusky now as a witness it would almost certainly and we looked at all of the different ways we could avoid it but most certainly would have resulted in the commonwealth being permitted to call matt sandusky in rebuttal. reluctantly and i say relucta t reluctantly because jerry sandusky still wanted to testify. he denyd that had ever inappropriately had contacts with his son matt and in fact and in fair tons jerry the remaining number of his children as well as his wife felt the same way and were prepared to testify against matt if matt came forward at jerry's trial in this matter and indicated that jerry had abused him.newsed hi

we decided as a legal strategy position that to put jerry on the stand to set him up to have matt come in to this jury and testify against him would have absolutely destroyed whatever chances he had at acquittal. and so upon our advice as his attorneys he reluctantly agreed not to testify and, of course, that resulted in matt sandusky not testifying and we felt that that might at least give jerry an opportunity to be acquitted of some if not more of the charges involved against him. so that was the reason jerry didn't testify in this trial contrary to my opening real marks that he intended to. i didn't smoke screen you. i didn't mislead you. he fully intended to testify. other. >> 45 out of 48 count

s. the question is does the fact that 45 out of 48 counts were returned as verdicts of guilty by the jury does that prove to me that my client is sick? >> and the answer is no. you know, folks, there are lots of people sitting in jails all across this country who are innocent. there have been people, lots of people -- [crowd noise] >> may i finish? lots of people. lots of people over the years who have been executed for murder and later determineed to have been innocent. so what this tells me is thi this -- >> do you think he is innocent? >> this jury -- >> folks in the media can i finish? what this proves to me is i believe the jury acted genuin genuinely. i believe the jury acted in good faith. i believe the jury acted on the evidence that was presented to it.

and i don't dispute or have any problem with the jury's verdi t verdict. we had a good jury. >> well, you may recall the question is why would matt come forward now. you have to ask matt. >> he there was on the first day. >> you may remember is what i'm going to say is exactly what you just commented. you may remember the first day of trial matt was seated with his family and actually accor according to family members during the testimony of one of the witnesses was kind of moc mocking the witness and indicating that he he didn't believe what the witness was saying. we had no idea what happened. and that ising to that matt and whoever represents him will have to tell you later. yes. weed a anticipated matt would be one of our witnesses. and we were shocked by it. his family was absolutely sho k shocked by it. his parents, his siblings were

distraught by it. nevertheless that is what we were facing. >> jerry said that matt has had problems ever since matt was with them and that these problems had led matt at times to do things that were irrational. he had problems as a juvenile and there were explanations for it but unfortunately as i said to jerry that if matt were to testify because of the fact this was a surprise situation the jury would undoubtedly believe him regardless of what evidence they have. >> jerry indicated he was dis disappointed by the verdict. but obviously he has to live with it. >> is he on suicide watch? >> i don't know. >> what about appeal. >> was matt living in the house when the trial started? >> i can't say he was living in the house but his parents told

me matt had been staying there temporarily recently and apparently there was some issue with his home life where he was staying with his parents. >> what are the -- >> we had the tin wans request one.onecontinuance for the inability of one of the experts to appear in court. the volumes of discovery materials we got two to three weeks before the trial which we didn't have a chance to review. we were running many days by the seat of our pants just tr trying to catch up. maybe it didn't look like that but that is the condition we found ourselves in. we also have some trial issues. we have some evidencery issues which we will address in post sentence motions which can't be filed until after the sentence sentencing. >> is that it, folks? essentially the sentence that jerry will receive will be a life sentence just due to the length of --

[ cheers and applause ] >> well, for a defense attorney who is about to mount an appeal that is one of the most astou d astounding news conferences i have seen. he said that he thought -- he had no disagreement with the verdict of the jury and had no problems at all with the judge and the judge was terrific and he would love to serve before the judge again. the jury did a great job and there was an overwhelming amount of evidence against his client and he was not surprised by the outcome. my god, arthur, defense attorney and fox news legal contributor what was that? >> i would go out of my way not to critique attorneys. that was the worst by far horrible, horrible thing i have ever seen by a defense attorney after a verdict. disgusting. >> and now the prosecutors. including the attorney general of the commonwealth of pennsylvania.

>> good evening, everyone. and thank you you all for your patience tonight. i'm attorney general linda kelly and joining me are members of the prosecution team and investigators on this case. some of whom you probably recognize from their roles in the courtroom and -- the microphone is not on. >> speak up. >> can you hear me? >> okay. all right. and others who you may recognize from their behind the scenes work in this case. we have joseph mcgettiingen.

frank pena and janelle esboch from the attorney general's who were the trial time in the ca e case. major brett wagner from the pennsylvania state police. [ applause ] >> special agent tony sistano. and regional director randy feathers from the state college office. these men and women along with many other agents, troopers, investigators, attorneys, and other staff of the attorney general's office of pennsylvania and the pennsylvania state police have worked tireless isly for the last few years to bring these charges to light. to bring this chas case to coud to see the day that this defendant a serial child predator who committed horrific acts upon his victims is caus causing life long and life

changing consequences for all of them has been held accoun accountable for thinks crime h. [ cheers and applause ] >> and i would like to thank each of the individuals that i just mentioned for the very important role that they played in bringing this case to today's verdict. i also want to offer my most sincere thanks to all of the young men, the victims in this case who came forward to brav bravely testify during this trial. [ applause ] and to finally put a stop to the crimes that have been committed by this defendant. they have shown great strengths and courage during this investigation. candidly and sometimes chilli g chillingly telling their stories not only to the jury in a packed courtroom here in be l

bellefonte pennsylvania but also to the entire world. it was incredibly difficult for some of them to unearth long buried memories of the shocking abuse they suffered at the hands of this defendant and most of us cannot possibly fully comprehend what they endured when testify in that packed courtroom. this trial was not something that they sought but rather something that forced them to face the demons of their past and to reveal what happened to them and their childhood when they met jerry sandusky. we hope that our search for justice in this case will help them and other victims who perhaps have been watching from afar and perhaps nea nearby ths case unfolded. one of the recurring themes of the witnesses' testimony which

came from the voices of the victims themselves in this case was who would believe a kid and the answer to that question is we here in bellefonte pennsylvania would believe a kid. and i think that i speak not only from my own agency but for law enforcement across the country when i say we he would believe a kid. and as rehe nexted by this verdict that we have -- as reflected by this verdict that we all just heard a jury of 12 people here in bellenofne, pa most definitely would and did believe a kid. although we know that the scars that these victims bear cannot be erased by the events in it a courtroom we hope that the outcome of this case not only allows these victims to heal and to begin the process of recovering and rebuilding their

lives but that it also encourages lette other victimsf sexual abuse to come forward. this is a crime that thrives in darkness. it is fed by fear and threats, shame and secrecy where predators carefully seek the most vulnerable prey. often they themselves are clo k cloaked in respectability that sometimes is almost beyond re r reproach. of all of the thousan thousan cases that stream through our judicial system, every once in awhile one will for a brief moment capture the attention of the eyes of the world. mesmerizing us until it plays itself out. i think we all recognize since the return of the grand jury presentment in this matter this was one of those uncommon cases and the eyes of the world have

since then been upon us. you the media have covered the proceedings in this case with exceptional atentiveness and thoroughness and produced much thoughtful commentary and insightful analysis over the course of this trial resulting i think in the raising of -- resulting in the raising of the consciousness of your readers and listeners. sir, i will answer that question if you will wait until the end of this. resulting in the raising of a consciousness of your readers and listeners and an increased awareness by the public of the monsterrous acts that can be committed by sexual predators like the defendant in this case who live among us who may appear to be pillars of the community, coaching icons, sports legends, and charitable

executives ex-recor. but who calculatingly mercyle mercylessly prey upon the most vulnerable members of our society. they carefully select their victims. this it case as you know underprivileged kids. kids from broken homes, foster homes. one parent families. and many of them having other issues like learning, behavio behavioral and emotional problems to deal with as well. and all a of whom in their time of need turned to the charity known as the second mile where they he knew -- where we now know that jerry sandusky trol trolled for victims. there are many important less n lessons that can be learned from this case. one of them is that we can't let the national focus that this case has brought upon child sexual abuse fade after these cameras are turned off

and the media has shifted their attention to the next important story. we have to continue to foe he cuss on child sexual abuse and to shine a bright light in those dark, dark places where the jerry sanduskys of the world lurk. places which definitely exist in our society. we need to continue to protect our children and to learn from the lessons of this case. and as for those who fail to respond to reports of child sexual abuse their behave ora o orabominable and has tragic consequences for the young victims like the ones that you heard from during the last two weeks. these kids need our help. they need our support and we as a society must not turn our backs or close our eyes or try to convince ourselves that it doesn't exist when it in fact does exist. this is a law enforcement issue and every police department and investigative agency across the country should take note of

this case and ensure that every claim of child sexual abuse is addressed promptly and investigated thoroughly with the understanding that where there is one victim there very likely are more. there is a moral imper tiff to do so. concealing this type of crime is unacceptable, and as well as unconscionable and should not, and cannot be tolerated. this is also a family issue. and hopefully, parents across the country will learn from this case, how important it is to be vigilant about your child's personal interaction was others and to make sure that your child is conscious

of their own safety ask aware they must report these types of incidents. and finally this is a community issue. because outside of our roles as prosecutors and police officers and professionals we have an interest in keeping our communities and particularly our children, safe and secure and protecting our children who really are truly, our most valuable natural resource, they should always be our priority. everyone of us has a responsibility to be aware of the crime and to speak out if you know something troubling. i thank all of you for your patience and dedication in covering this case. your work, your work, too. has carried this story and the lessons going hand in hand with it far beyond borders of center county and helped to raise awareness about this kind of issue. if there are people out there

watching now who have been victims of sexual abuse, as part of any case, anywhere, i encourage you to contact authorities in your community and seek the support and assistance that you need. there are no instant solutions to this problem but working together we can hope to make progress. we can help voices of victims be heard and we can try and drive away the demons and the darkness and lift of veil of secrecy that allows predators to hide and operate in our midst. the common wealth interest in a case like this, in this criminal prosecution is not merely to win the case, but to see that justice shall be done. the two fold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape, in our innocence, suffer.