Oh Boy here comes our attention needy DA to the rescue

[JeremyCuse]

This is guy is something else, im sure you will get to the bottom of it Bill. :bang:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/da_promises_full_investigation.html

 

[DomeStranger]

Looks like a game of c.y.a. ...

 

[HoustonCuse]

Holy CYA, batman. I know nothing of this guy but I'll put him in the turd category right now after reading that trash.

 

[Whitey23]

Love that he immediately attacks the Univ for not informing his office. That's the police dept's job. The police dept didn't go ahead with charges why should SU go above their heads? Typical prosecutor.

 

[themorey]

It almost sounds like a campaign ad.

 

[jekelish]

Seth Davis tweeted about it, saying he's reserving judgment until the facts come out, but that the DA making these comments seems "unethical, almost illegal."

 

[Noexcuse]

I agree with the CYA angle. Also, he doesn't want any higher authority taking an interest that maybe his office was complicit in some sort of cover-up.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Love that he immediately attacks the Univ for not informing his office. That's the police dept's job. The police dept didn't go ahead with charges why should SU go above their heads? Typical prosecutor.

Didn't Bond, Schoeneck and King conduct the investigation for SU? Isn't his beef with them? They are the NCAA attorneys if I recall.

 

[Bortukal]

Didn't Bond, Schoeneck and King conduct the investigation for SU? Isn't his beef with them? They are the NCAA attorneys if I recall.

It was reportedly BS&K, and yeah they do a lot of work with NCAA matters.

The thing about Fitzy is he's not really a bad DA but the man never met a reporter's microphone that he didn't like.

 

[Whitey23]

Didn't Bond, Schoeneck and King conduct the investigation for SU? Isn't his beef with them? They are the NCAA attorneys if I recall.

He's insinuating that they were trying to hide something by hiring a private investigator and not coming to them. The law firm isn't liable. Attorney client privilege I would think.

 

[marz09cuse]

SethDavisHoops Seth davis

I am ready to let facts play out re Bernie Fine. But there is NO reason for a D.A. to publicly comment. It's unethical, possibly illegal.

 

[rrlbees]

My gut feeling is that anything that was investigated by anyone was known by him. He knows this program well and knows everyone. Definitely CYA.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Ironic that in Penn St's situation that going to the locals might have been considered an issue in covering something up. Being a national firm that handles NCAA violations, fraud etc I'd think they would be considered independant. If Fitzpatrick handled it the national media could say the local DA's office wasn't truly an independant choice like now they are alluding in the Penn St fiasco.

 

[cto]

This is guy is something else, im sure you will get to the bottom of it Bill. :bang:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/da_promises_full_investigation.html

Folks here might be over-reacting to what the DA said. Obviously, he felt burned that he did not know about the previous investigations and is, as has been said, covering his a$$. Fitzpatrick has a history of being pretty decent when investigating accusations regarding SU athletes.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Also right on Cue ESPN now running the Fitzys comments on there Ticker. UGH

 

[AZOrange]

Folks here might be over-reacting to what the DA said. Obviously, he felt burned that he did not know about the previous investigations and is, as has been said, covering his a$$. Fitzpatrick has a history of being pretty decent when investigating accusations regarding SU athletes.

He was also pretty decent last night in his comments. BTW, has anyone ever confirmed these guys reported the incident to police in 2003?

 

[Whitey23]

Syracuse University: Police would have told DA's office of Bernie Fine allegations 'if appropriate'

"When we learned of this matter in 2005, it had already been reported to the Syracuse City Police and was already addressed within the criminal justice process," Quinn's statement said. In a previous statement, Quinn said Davis had told SU officials he'd reported the accusations to Syracuse police and that the police told him they weren't pursuing the matter because the statute of limitations had run out.​

"The police would have notified the District Attorney's Office if appropriate under the circumstances," Quinn's statement said. "Nevertheless, we immediately launched our own investigation of our employee to determine the facts. If that investigation had revealed any evidence or corroboration of the allegations or any criminal conduct, we would have reported it to the authorities immediately."​

 

[690West]

Folks here might be over-reacting to what the DA said. Obviously, he felt burned that he did not know about the previous investigations and is, as has been said, covering his a$$. Fitzpatrick has a history of being pretty decent when investigating accusations regarding SU athletes.

I watched the SU v UCONN football debacle with Fitz down at the Saltine Warrior. The guy BLEEEEDDDDSSSS Orange. He had bright orange sneakers on. I you not. He loves the limelight but he will be very fair.

 

[rrlbees]

Folks here might be over-reacting to what the DA said. Obviously, he felt burned that he did not know about the previous investigations and is, as has been said, covering his a$$. Fitzpatrick has a history of being pretty decent when investigating accusations regarding SU athletes.

Thing is, he knew. I have no doubt about that. Fitzy has been a long time card carrying member of the SU family.

 

[OttoMets]

It was reportedly BS&K, and yeah they do a lot of work with NCAA matters.

The thing about Fitzy is he's not really a bad DA but the man never met a reporter's microphone that he didn't like.

Darn good DA, in fact. Something like 81-1 for cases he's argued in his career, and a big Syracuse basketball fan, to boot.

 

[NKR1978]

Sanity from Syracuse.com?
Red November 18, 2011 at 3:37PM
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If you blink, you miss it. In the Syracuse.com article posted yesterday at 9:14 P.M. it said this: "[Fitzpatrick] said he couldn't imagine police would be investigating something dating to the 1980s, because the statute of limitations had long passed and there would be nothing to prosecute." So now, in the article posted at 1:10 P.M. today, Fitzy says that "We worked a long time to get people to follow the proper protocols when it comes to abused children. Telling someone to hit the road because of the statute of limitations is not what should happen." So which is it, Fitz ? Fitz's new-found concern over the possibility of current or future victims may just be a pretext to camouflage his real goal here, which may be to go after the two accusers with a vengeance.​

 

[rrlbees]

Syracuse University: Police would have told DA's office of Bernie Fine allegations 'if appropriate'

"When we learned of this matter in 2005, it had already been reported to the Syracuse City Police and was already addressed within the criminal justice process," Quinn's statement said. In a previous statement, Quinn said Davis had told SU officials he'd reported the accusations to Syracuse police and that the police told him they weren't pursuing the matter because the statute of limitations had run out.​

"The police would have notified the District Attorney's Office if appropriate under the circumstances," Quinn's statement said. "Nevertheless, we immediately launched our own investigation of our employee to determine the facts. If that investigation had revealed any evidence or corroboration of the allegations or any criminal conduct, we would have reported it to the authorities immediately."​

Excellent points by Quinn as to why SU did not go to the police or DA. If an employee of mine is suspected of trouble and the police investigated, I may still look into it more when I found out from an employer-employee standpoint. Not everything that can get you fired or suspended is illegal and gets you tossed in jail.

 

[OttoMets]

Thing is, he knew. I have no doubt about that. Fitzy has been a long time card carrying member of the SU family.

I cannot believe that he didn't know about this.

As for the thinking behind his statements, this quote sums it all up: ""We worked a long time to get people to follow the proper protocols when it comes to abused children. Telling someone to hit the road because of the statute of limitations is not what should happen," he said."
This is hardly a CYA thing - it's a "rub SPD's face in s---" thing. No secret that the DA's office has a great deal of trouble with dishonest cops who take shortcuts (especially in the SPD), and this is the perfect situation to cast some light on that.

 

[dollarbill44]

I still don't get why anyone would expect SU to turn over their internal investigation findings to the DA or SPD unless they were asked to do so. Would anyone on here do that?

A different example, banks are required by law to conduct internal investigations on suspicious banking activity in order to comply with federal and international authorities and report on any positive findins. If the result of the internal investigation uncovers no finding of impropriety, the bank is not required to report it, nor is it encouraged to do so, because the feds would be overwhelmed with paperwork if every bank did this in unwarranted cases. To me, this is the same sort of situation. SU was informed of a suspicious activity, they investigated it and found no findings of any impropriety. They filed it away. They should not have been expected by anyone to have shared their findings.

The DA is just trying to cover his own skin because SPD made him look bad by not informing the DAs office in 2003.

 

[rrlbees]

I still don't get why anyone would expect SU to turn over their internal investigation findings to the DA or SPD unless they were asked to do so. Would anyone on here do that?

A different example, banks are required by law to conduct internal investigations on suspicious banking activity in order to comply with federal and international authorities and report on any positive findins. If the result of the internal investigation uncovers no finding of impropriety, the bank is not required to report it, nor is it encouraged to do so, because the feds would be overwhelmed with paperwork if every bank did this in unwarranted cases. To me, this is the same sort of situation. SU was informed of a suspicious activity, they investigated it and found no findings of any impropriety. They filed it away. They should not have been expected by anyone to have shared their findings.

The DA is just trying to cover his own skin because SPD made him look bad by not informing the DAs office in 2003.

I agree. Since it was or had been investigated by the police, I don't think SU had to go to anyone. They were doing their own due diligence.