(CBS News) Closing arguments are set to begin Thursday in the sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky.
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse for the seventh day of his child sex abuse trial in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania June 20, 2012.
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The defense in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case could wrap up its case on Wednesday after days of testimony that included the former football coach’s wife saying she never saw anything sexual between him and a child.
The heart of the prosecution’s case and closing argument will almost certainly be the sometimes tearful, often graphic testimony of eight accusers, now ages 18 to 28.
But in the end, the prosecution’s strongest card may well be the testimony of former Penn State coach Mike McQueary – the only independent eyewitness to any alleged abuse.
It was McQueary who, in a decisive voice, told the court he saw Sandusky pin a young boy against the wall from behind – in “an extremely sexual position” – in a coach’s shower back in February 2001.
Despite multiple attempts, the defense appeared unable to shake the account.
Before the jury weighs the evidence, first the defense, then the prosecution will have one final say: depicting Sandusky as either a man misunderstood – a “father figure” driven to simply help troubled young boys – or, as a serial sexual predator who used the charity he founded to nurture, then betray the trust of boys brought into his home.
Earlier this week, the defense offered clear signs of how it will argue innocence: conflicting statements in some of the eight alleged victims testimony; an overzealous police investigation that led or coached kids into matching testimony; the desire to cash in on potential civil lawsuits; a parade of character witnesses lauding Sandusky as “wonderful,” “revered” and “amazing.
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