UPDATE 6/22/12 8:57 a.m. -- As day two of deliberations begins, a crush of media is swarming the Centre County Courthouse, anticipating a verdict in the alleged child molestation case of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The defendant arrived at the courthouse shortly before 9 a.m. dressed in a brown blazer and khaki pants, casual attire compared to earlier this week when rumors of his potential testimony went unfulfilled.
Thursday's deliberations concluded at approximately 9:40 p.m. following closing arguments from both sides that morning.
Also on Thursday, reports that Matt Sandusky, the adopted son of Jerry Sandusky, claims that he, too, was molested by the former Penn State assistant coach, broke following a statement from 33-year-old's attorney, Andrew Shubin.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Jurors who will decide the fate of former assistant Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky entered deliberations Thursday afternoon following a final argument from the defense that there is no evidence to support the 48 charges related to child molestation.
"There is not one piece of physical evidence -- not once piece," defense attorney Joe Amendola said in his closing.
"All of these alleged charges only go back to the mid-1990s. All of a sudden, when Mr. Sandusky is in his mid-50s, he decides he wants to become a pedophile," Amendola said. "Does that make any sense to you?"
The accusers –- young men who allege that Sandusky, 68, inappropriately touched them or forced them to have anal and oral sex with him -- are liars and conspirators who desire financial compensation, Amendola said.
"[Sandusky's wife] Dottie Sandusky was always in [their] house. Could all of this sex be going on?" Amendola asked. "Use your common sense."
The former football coach faces 48 criminal counts related to the alleged sexual assaults of 10 boys over a 15-year period. The prosecution has referred to Sandusky as a "serial predator," but he maintains his innocence and his attorney has suggested his accusers are financially motivated.
Amendola also hammered away at the alleged accusers and methodically attacked last week's testimony. The names of the witnesses are being withheld, although they are testifying in open court. Regarding Accuser 1, the defense attorney pointed to the neighbor of the accuser's mother, who on Thursday testified that she told him she stood to make a lot of money off of Sandusky.
"I'll own his house," the mother of Accuser 1 allegedly said in 2008, referring to Sandusky.
"Is that the reaction of a mother who's kid was molested?" Amendola asked the jury.
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Jerry Sandusky Trial
Prosecutor Joe McGettigan began the Commonwealth's closing arguments by displaying a slide for the jury that read: "Admit what you must. Deny what you can. Call everyone a liar. Make counter charges. Allege a conspiracy."
"Is any of this not familiar to you?" McGettigan asked the jury of seven women and five men.
McGettigan attacked claims that Sandusky is a victim and that his accusers are liars who want financial compensation. "If there is a conspiracy, it involves enough people to fill this jury box [and] it involves time travel as well," McGettigan argued.
"It requires everyone here to fooled, or corrupt, or in this together ... Bring us all along. Lock us all up. Lock up the lawyers, lock up the victims. We all must have been part of this grand conspiracy."
Amendola wrapped up his closing argument by reading an excerpt for Mother Teresa's paradoxical commandments. He read, in part:
"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered -- Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives -- Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies -- Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, People may cheat you -- Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight -- Build anyway."
Amendola concluded, "Everything [Jerry Sandusky] ever loved, everything he's ever built, and everything he's ever stood for -- It's gone."
In closing, McGettigan walking over to Sandusky and said, "He molested, abused and hurt the children. He knows he did it. And you know he did it. Acknowledge it. Give them justice. Give him the justice that he really deserves."
The jury began deliberations at 1:12 p.m.