Yes, for thousands of reasons - good and bad. For example, if you're pretty certain the State failed to prove its case, you would almost never put the defendant on the stand, since they could presumably only screw things up.

Right. But it points up the risks in telling the jury that they will hear from the defendant.

Very true ... which is why you should spend the money to hire Not A Family Friend/Not Lawyerin' Joe Amandola (h/t Deadspin), so this sort of day-1 stuff doesn't fall through the cracks.

Awwww... poor old man isn't happy with his prison accomodations. Boo-friggin'-hoo.

Sandusky Seeks Less Harsh Prison Setting

If he really thinks he would be safe in general pop, he is absolutely bat shit crazy.

I've heard many times that child predators get beat down the most in prisons, especially since there are many former victims of abuse in the prison. Not sure if I could find stats to back that up, but I've heard this generalization a lot.