Jerry Sandusky Hearing: Waiver of Preliminary Hearing Both Telling and Cowardly

Accused child molester and former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was set to meet his accusers today in a preliminary hearing ahead of his pending trial. Instead, Sandusky's legal team decided to waive the hearing, further calling into question Sandusky's credibility.

According to ESPN.com, Sandusky was originally looking forward to facing his accusers, but attorney Joe Amendola and the rest of Sandusky's legal team waived the hearing as a "tactical decision" to prevent the alleged victims from rehashing what they said in their grand jury testimonies.

The more likely reasoning, however, is that Sandusky would have been damaged even further by the testimony for his accusers. These alleged victims will eventually have their stories heard in court, but this gives Sandusky and his legal team more time to prepare for the inevitable peppering of accounts.

Sandusky continued to maintain his innocence, but you would think that a truly innocent person wouldn't be worried about the alleged victims telling their stories. I think that Sandusky's waiver speaks volumes. His silence is deafening at this point, and it may even overshadow anything his accusers may have said.

All of Sandusky's accusers that were present at the courthouse today mustered up enough courage to speak in front of hundreds of people about a traumatizing event in their life. Sandusky and his legal team didn't have the common courtesy to let them tell their accounts, however.

From a legal standpoint, I certainly understand where Sandusky's defense team is coming from, and it may have been the right move for him at the moment. When it comes to trying to prove innocence, however, I am of the mind that honesty and transparency is the best way to make people believe you.

Sandusky and his lawyers have been anything but transparent to this point, though, and the waived hearing is just another example of that. They have tried to counter that notion by refusing to try for a plea deal of any kind, but that is a sign of defiance more than anything.

In some ways, Sandusky's decision to waive the hearing could be viewed as a win for the alleged victims, though. Senior Deputy Attorney General E. Marc Costanzo was actually supportive of the decision, as it limits the amount that the accusers have to be in the public eye.

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It avoids their having to testify for a second time, Costanzo said. They will, of course, testify at a trial in the case.

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Even so, I don't believe Sandusky and his legal team made the decision for the betterment of the accusers. This was quite obviously meant to have a muzzling effect, but eventually, he will have to face the music.

Sandusky also waived his appearance at a Jan. 11 arraignment and requested a jury trial, meaning the alleged victims will finally get to speak in March. Sandusky saved himself further bad press for now, but come March, the time for stalling tactics will be over.