The specially-presiding judge who was expected to oversee Jerry Sandusky’s resentencing has recused himself from the case, according to the Associated Press.
Jefferson County President Judge John Foradora, who has been overseeing Sandusky’s Court of Common Pleas appeals since 2017, signed an order on Wednesday removing himself from the case, citing an unspecified recent action by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. The order directs Centre County court administration to appoint a new judge.
According to the AP, Senior Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Buck and defense attorney Al Lindsey signed a document on Monday stating Foradora should recuse himself from the resentencing because of the action, which they described as ‘wholly unrelated’ to the Sandusky case.
Sandusky, the former Penn State football assistant coach and founder of the Second Mile charity for at-risk youth, had been scheduled to be in Centre County Court next week for resentencing on his 2012 child sexual abuse convictions, but on Monday Foradora issued an order continuing the proceeding with no new date scheduled. That order did not specify why the resentencing was delayed.
In February, a state Superior Court panel denied Sandusky a new trial but ordered that he be resentenced because trial Judge John Cleland improperly applied mandatory minimum sentences when he sentenced Sandusky to 30 to 60 years in state prison. Prosecutors argued the Superior Court could merely strip the mandatory minimum designations while maintaining the sentence structure, but the appellate judges said they did not have the authority to do so.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court in July declined to hear Sandusky’s arguments for a new trial, exhausting his appeals at the state level.
Foradora began presiding over the case at the county court level after Cleland, who had handled the case since Sandusky was charged in 2011, recused himself in November 2016. Cleland took himself off the case after Lindsey alleged the judge acted unethically by participating in an off-the-record, pre-trial negotiation. Cleland denied that claim but said he had no choice but to recuse after Lindsay impugned his integrity.
Prior to Sandusky being held for trial, all Centre County judges recused themselves from the case.
A new judge has not yet been assigned.
The 75-year-old Sandusky is currently incarcerated at Laurel Highlands state prison in Somerset County.
