Frank Parlato
In my opinion, Judge John Cleland takes the cake for the most corrupt and biased judge. This prosecutor in black robes is the only judge I have ever heard of who conducted a secret court meeting, with no court reporter, hidden from the public and not in his courtroom.
Judge Cleland held his hearing at a motel.
On December 12, 2011, Judge Cleland was present with Jerry Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola, the prosecutors, including the deplorable Frank Fina, and District Magistrate Scott at the Hilton Garden Inn in State College. They met in a private room.
The defendant, Jerry Sandusky, was not present.
It was the night before the preliminary hearing when Judge Cleland held his “secret” meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn.
At the Hilton Garden Inn, they struck a deal that Amendola would waive Sandusky’s right to the preliminary hearing if the prosecution promised not to seek higher bail if additional accusers were forthcoming.
The prosecutors and Amendola also agreed to Judge Cleland’s demand for a super-rapid trial schedule.
The entire discussion was “off the record”.
Of course, an ethical attorney would never have attended such a meeting, but Sandusky’s attorney was Joe Amendola.
He should have refused to attend a secret, unrecorded, un-transcribed meeting with Judge Cleland and prosecutor Fina to waive a preliminary hearing.
At the preliminary hearing, the defense could have questioned the lying pack of accusers about their mental health history, exposure to repressed memory therapy, civil attorneys offering millions for Sandusky abuse “memories”, and state police’s abusive interviewing practices.
The other thing that Judge Cleland accomplished at the motel meeting – and both Amendola and Fina understood – was that there would be a sham trial to comply with Cleland’s “conviction-death-march” rapid trial schedule.
At the Hilton Garden Inn, defense attorney Amendola agreed to his client’s conviction by agreeing to an impossibly rapid trial schedule and waiving the preliminary hearing.
Co-conspirators Fina-Cleland-Amendola did not tell anyone about the secret off-the-record motel meeting until 2016 – four years after the trial and conviction of Sandusky. It is possible that Amendola, Fina, and Clelanda criminally agreed to sabotage Sandusky’s case (like the PA Kids for Cash corruption scheme) to ensure a conviction.
Why So Fast?
I believe Cleland was given orders to convict Sandusky no later than summer 2102 to save the local economy from hundreds of millions of dollars in losses by preventing an NCAA “death penalty” for the PSU football program.
The three conspirators also facilitated the political goals of Gov Tom Corbett, a mentor-ally of Cleland, Fina, and Acting Attorney General Linda Kelley.
Ethical, Who Me?
An ethical attorney would never have attended such a hotel meeting and kept it secret from his client and co-counsel in the case. But we are talking about Joe Amendola.
An ethical defense attorney would not have stayed in the case if they had “lacked time to even review basic evidence” or had “no time to retain and hire essential expert witnesses,” as Amendola claimed in his “covering-up corruption” motions for additional time and to withdraw (both of which he pre-arranged with Cleland to lose).
Given the lack of time to prepare, Amendola had no ethical path, but to resign from the case – but he stayed and participated in a historically corrupt trial.
Why is Amendola’s Argument About Bail Bullshit?
Amendola said he waived the preliminary hearing because the prosecution said, “We’re going to add additional charges onto Sandusky’s case, and we’re going to ask for a million dollars bond,” which Sandusky couldn’t have met.
Amendola said he made a deal with the prosecution that if he waived the preliminary hearing, they wouldn’t raise Sandusky’s bond, and he could remain free on bond, pending the trial.
The prosecution did not want a preliminary hearing.
However, if the prosecutors had made a motion to raise the bail, Amendola could have opposed it. The district magistrate sets the bail, not the prosecution. Under the rules, there’s no valid reason why they should have raised the bail. Sandusky was not going to run. He was subject to home confinement. He presented no threat to the community. Amendola should have successfully kept the bond the same without waiving the preliminary hearing. Even if the magistrate raised the bail, Amendola could have appealed it to the Court of Common Pleas judge, John Cleland.
Instead, they have an off-the-record meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn the night before the preliminary hearing.
Judge Cleland was present. He could ultimately decide if he would raise the bond.
He did not say to the prosecutors that, based on the rules, there was no reason to raise the bond.
The Cleland Shuffle
During the secret motel meeting, Cleland revealed why he would extort Sandusky. He wanted to rush the trial. He said at the meeting, “We’ve got to get this thing to trial.”
Most legal proceedings presided over by a judge are in courtrooms, not motels. A stenographer would have been present.
Was the “secret unreported meeting” an illegal agreement to “rig” the trial?
Vital Need for Preliminary Hearing
The judge had scheduled Sandusky’s preliminary hearing for December 13, 2011, a few days after two new perjurers, Sabastian Paden, and Ryan Rittmeyer, came forward with their lies, and prosecutors added new charges.
At the preliminary hearing, had the conspirators not agreed to cancel it, Amendola could have questioned alleged victims about mental health, criminal record, number and type of police and prosecutor interviews, the changes in their stories, memory-contaminating psychotherapy issues, repressed memory ideology, indoctrination issues, number and type of interviews, exposure to civil attorneys offering millions for abuse “memories,” the state police’s abusive interviewing practices and other essential information.
The basis for a good cross-examination at trial would have been the testimony at the preliminary hearing. The testimony at the preliminary hearing would have been different from what the accusers testified at trial.
The preliminary hearing results would have produced the predicate for a FRYE hearing that may have excluded many of the alleged victim witnesses. But a FRYE hearing would have delayed the trial.
It was essential to get testimony from the alleged victims on the record so that the defense knew who and what they were up against. If the witnesses changed their stories at trial, they could use that previous testimony to impeach them.
Instead, Joe Amendola met with prosecutors Joe McGettigan, Frank Fina, Jonelle Eshbach, and two judges—John Cleland, who would preside over the trial, and the district magistrate judge.
The conspirators agreed to waive the preliminary hearing and create an impossibly rapid trial schedule. If this is not corruption, Pennsylvania style, then nothing is corruption.
A federal investigation is warranted.
Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.
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Nothing was secret. Sandusky approved the deal to avoid spending more time in jail and increase in bond.
Nothing new here. This is already in the court record.
If there was real meat here there would be new court filings in Sandusky’s appeals process.
He’s run out of options. He dies in prison.
He dies or divorces his old lady. Comes out of the closet after winning and dates within his victim factory. Win win here! maybe he loves boys they named one after him dubois.
So-called “victims” of rape are liars. No integrity. F.B.Lie was involved in the metadata.
Free Sandusky!
If Sandusky couldn’t pay a million for bail, than who paid these boys? Who signed the checks?
Penn State. BTW they were not boys, they were men when they did their lying and collected their checks.
It took them being men to be spanked like little boys on this site.
They were minors when the gold was pure. Shout out to the Shitty Kitty Committee.
Was the “secret off-the-record, unrecorded meeting” which ensured the fate of Jerry Sandusky, by chance called a “status conference”?
Attorneys hold these off the record meetings (aka status conferences) with judges where clients do not attend and it’s at the judges discretion whether or not to record these meetings.
It’s a way to increase billable hours and where secret agreements are made while leaving clients in the dark.
The dirtier the deeds, the less likely the judge ordered it to be recorded.
Clients lives and money are stolen during these secret meetings billed as “status conferences”- a term invented by greedy attorneys with no point other than lining their pockets and selling the targeted client down the river.
Thank you Frank, for bringing the actions of these underhanded attorneys and judge to the public’s attention.
I do not know if it was called a status conference since the meeting was kept secret for four years. It might have been called a “Sell Sandusky down the River.”
I think Judge Cleland probably wanted to set a new trend. When judges hold secret court in a motel, not only does nobody has to know, but you can have dinner while you’re dispensing justice and afterwards a dip in the pool. Secret court is really a good idea and it sure works for judges and lawyers.
In Jerry Sandusky’s case it is probably like professional wrestling. Cleland decided in advance at the motel meeting that Fina was to win, Amendola was to lose but to make it look real.
“At issue is a meeting held at the Hilton Garden Inn in State College the night of Dec. 12, 2011. It was attended by Cleland, Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola, state prosecutors Joe McGettigan and Jonelle Eshbach, and District Judge Robert Scott, who had been appointed to preside at the preliminary hearing scheduled for the next day.”
https://www.wtae.com/article/judge-removes-himself-from-jerry-sandusky-appeal/8305839
“… Updated: 12:14 PM EST Nov 18, 2016
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press …
At issue is a meeting held at the Hilton Garden Inn in State College the night of Dec. 12, 2011. It was attended by Cleland, Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola, state prosecutors Joe McGettigan and Jonelle Eshbach, and District Judge Robert Scott, who had been appointed to preside at the preliminary hearing scheduled for the next day. …”