They can't have to much on Bernie.

[CUSEBB1]

You would think if they had hard evidence he would not be sitting at home having turkey dinner.Just weird that if they had hard evidence that they would not have arrested him yet.

 

[longislandcuse]

You would think if they had hard evidence he would not be sitting at home having turkey dinner.Just weird that if they had hard evidence that they would not have arrested him yet.

Thats what ive been thinking. I know its troubling what happened yesterday but hes still not in jail and wasnt led out of the house in handcuffs, which makes me think this is just a severe case of due diligence...i hope.

 

[Stern]

Going through the motions. If he was doing stuff with these kids it was like 10-15 years ago or so, searching his house now will do what? He has had stuff laying around? Hell he had to know this was coming, if there was stuff he has had 2 weeks to destroy anything.

As long as it gets this over with quicker, fine. But I find this and utter waste of time and just going through the motions.

 

[RF2044]

Going through the motions. If he was doing stuff with these kids it was like 10-15 years ago or so, searching his house now will do what? He has had stuff laying around? Hell he had to know this was coming, if there was stuff he has had 2 weeks to destroy anything.

As long as it gets this over with quicker, fine. But I find this and utter waste of time and just going through the motions.

I'm not suggesting that any of the previous investigations were [or were not] thorough, but given the attributions that were made this week about the potential impropriety with how those past investigations may have been handled, I don't have a problem with his home being searched--if for no reason than to demonstrate that no stone is being left unturned now.

As you point out, if they find anything damaging, I'd be shocked. So the sooner they exhaust all avenues and clear him, the better it is for SU. The only way to put this to rest for good is to exhaust all prospective evidenciary trails without turning anything up.

 

[longislandcuse]

Going through the motions. If he was doing stuff with these kids it was like 10-15 years ago or so, searching his house now will do what? He has had stuff laying around? Hell he had to know this was coming, if there was stuff he has had 2 weeks to destroy anything.

As long as it gets this over with quicker, fine. But I find this and utter waste of time and just going through the motions.

Exactly, hes known hes being investigated for 2 weeks, if he has incriminating documents/photos etc in a cabinet then he deserves to go to jail for even longer due to stupidity. This search makes no sense, which leads me to believe its just eye candy for the national media.

 

[jsshap]

Going through the motions. If he was doing stuff with these kids it was like 10-15 years ago or so, searching his house now will do what? He has had stuff laying around? Hell he had to know this was coming, if there was stuff he has had 2 weeks to destroy anything.

As long as it gets this over with quicker, fine. But I find this and utter waste of time and just going through the motions.

I do not believe a multi-agency search lasting 8 hours and resulting in items being taken is going through the motions or mere due diligence. Also note the comment from the article "we are not going to have a trial in the press" or something like that, which is insightful. Perhaps there is a bizarre twist and Bernie is not the target, but I'd say chances of criminal charges being brought are 90%+.

 

[longislandcuse]

I do not believe a multi-agency search lasting 8 hours and resulting in items being taken is going through the motions or mere due diligence. Also note the comment from the article "we are not going to have a trial in the press" or something like that, which is insightful. Perhaps there is a bizarre twist and Bernie is not the target, but I'd say chances of criminal charges being brought are 90%+.

So when though? Hey Bernie, you're being investigated, were gonna search your house, trash, woods. Were taking these cabinets. Dont mind us, just taking some pictures...have a good day, bye. Doesnt it seem like all this would be based on incriminating evidence that would lead to him not being a free man at this point? I dont know, just seems very strange to me.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Yeah, I heard third hand that they did find things. I won't say what I know on the board, but if anyone is at the tailgate this morning, we'll talk.

 

[Stern]

Yeah, I heard third hand that they did find things. I won't say what I know on the board, but if anyone is at the tailgate this morning, we'll talk.

What a VHS tape of the Sandusky Linebacker Coaching video?

 

[RF2044]

So when though? Hey Bernie, you're being investigated, were gonna search your house, trash, woods. Were taking these cabinets. Dont mind us, just taking some pictures...have a good day, bye. Doesnt it seem like all this would be based on incriminating evidence that would lead to him not being a free man at this point? I dont know, just seems very strange to me.

Tend to agree. Charges would have to be based upon some reasonable evidence suggesting that Bernie may have committed a crime.

If tossing his house turned up something incriminating, then I'd expect criminal charges. If not, it does feel a lot like these agencies going through the motions / taking precautionary due diligence. I read nothing into file cabinets / computers / documentation being removed from his house--that's to be expected.

 

[TinyManInside]

People, this is a criminal investigation into potential child molestation. The police (or Feds) are not going to want to bring charges unless they think they have an excellent chance of getting a conviction. It takes a lot of time to build a case like that. I wouldn't expect charges to be brought as quickly as within hours of searching the house.

I have no idea as to the motive of yesterday's search, but I wonder how much involvement there is with regards to Davis/Lang? I believe the alleged abuse would have occurred at Bernie's previous house.

 

[jsshap]

So when though? Hey Bernie, you're being investigated, were gonna search your house, trash, woods. Were taking these cabinets. Dont mind us, just taking some pictures...have a good day, bye. Doesnt it seem like all this would be based on incriminating evidence that would lead to him not being a free man at this point? I dont know, just seems very strange to me.

I dont know and I dont intend to suggest that I do. It is not at all uncommon for the police not to immediately arrest even after they have strong evidence of guilt. Obviously they do not want to arrest prematurely, and they certainly want to to review, test, etc. whatever it is they took, but there other reasons for that. Sometimes an arrest will impede the investigation, i.e. causing the accused or others not to speak as freely (or at all). So as long as there is no significant risk of flight or further crimes, it is not surprising to see law enforcement get fully lined up before an arrest is made.

 

[TinyManInside]

Thorough evaluation of 3 full filing cabinets is going to take a lot of time.

Also consider if they are looking at electronic media, it takes time to recover deleted files (which by the way can be found unless the user takes great pains to ensure complete deletion). Simple 'empty trash' does not actually delete files, it really just deletes the pointers that are used to locate the files on the computer. The files, or at least remnants of them, will still be on the drive until completely overwritten. There are certainly ways to reformat with 7x overwrites that largely prevent recovery, but few users really know about that. I've read of cases where it took Feds up to 2 weeks to recovery deleted data from a hard drive.

Reading over the PS article, I have a much worse feeling about this now than I did yesterday.

 

[Stern]

its clear the accusers told the police there were pictures taken. So the police/feds want to go through files and computers to try and find these pictures.

 

[longislandcuse]

I am definately coming to the acceptance that is has to be one of these three choices.

Extreme due diligence because of the national spotlight.
Payoffs or money was involved in some way.
New allegations.

Really hoping its the first one, but im kind of doubting it. However, it could be one of the other two and nothing corroborates itself and hes cleared of wrong doing again.

 

[jsshap]

Tend to agree. Charges would have to be based upon some reasonable evidence suggesting that Bernie may have committed a crime.

If tossing his house turned up something incriminating, then I'd expect criminal charges. If not, it does feel a lot like these agencies going through the motions / taking precautionary due diligence. I read nothing into file cabinets / computers / documentation being removed from his house--that's to be expected.

I have not been been in a a criminal courtroom in 10 years RF, but believe anyone who has will tell you that this is not standard operating procedure conducted in the interest of being thorough even if there is no solid evidence of criminal activity. In fact, it is not even constitutional to conduct an extensive search of someone's house just because they are accused of a crime. Maybe the circus that has been Syracuse law enforcement recently is affecting what actions are being taken, but the feds involvement pretty much removes that possibility. I've been rooting as hard as the next guy for these allegations to be re-investigated and quickly dismissed again, but this is clearly not going in that direction.

 

[fairfaxcuse]

I am definately coming to the acceptance that is has to be one of these three choices.

Extreme due diligence because of the national spotlight.
Payoffs or money was involved in some way.
New allegations.

Really hoping its the first one, but im kind of doubting it. However, it could be one of the other two and nothing corroborates itself and hes cleared of wrong doing again.

Given john syracuse's post yesterday, it seems like option #2 is most plausible. The taking of file cabinets sounds like a money trail. This is also consistent with the $5,000 loan noted by Davis in his original statements to the PS. Also, the feds almost have to be involved after the public spat last week that killed everyone's credibility investigating the case.

 

[RF2044]

I have not been been in a a criminal courtroom in 10 years RF, but believe anyone who has will tell you that this is not standard operating procedure conducted in the interest of being thorough even if there is no solid evidence of criminal activity. In fact, it is not even constitutional to conduct an extensive search of someone's house just because they are accused of a crime. Maybe the circus that has been Syracuse law enforcement recently is affecting what actions are being taken, but the feds involvement pretty much removes that possibility. I've been rooting as hard as the next guy for these allegations to be re-investigated and quickly dismissed again, but this is clearly not going in that direction.

What is standard operating procedure for investigating accusations that are 25-30 years old?

I'm not making any assumptions, because it isn't clear WHY they were searching his house.

"Quickly" doesn't really matter to me--just so long as the truth comes out. Come what may for Bernie.

 

[EastCoast2]

there's only one thing they can be looking for at his house

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

there's only one thing they can be looking for at his house

1987 Final Four t-shirts? those things go for like $50 on ebay...

 

[jsshap]

What is standard operating procedure for investigating accusations that are 25-30 years old?

I'm not making any assumptions, because it isn't clear WHY they were searching his house.

"Quickly" doesn't really matter to me--just so long as the truth comes out. Come what may for Bernie.

Investigate the allegations by speaking to the accuser, the accused if he/she is willing to talk, and by conducting whatever other investigation is necessary to determine if there is a chargeable criminal offense or potential ongoing criminal activity. That would not include searching the house of the accused absent probable cause to believe such search will uncover evidence of a crime. And the accused's 4th amendment rights prevent a search absent consent or probable cause.

Its conveivable that this is all about investigating child molestation crimes 25 years ago that are still chargeable under federal law or another state law, and there is probable cause to believe evidence of those crimes is in the house today (or yesterday), but its much more likely that the investigation has turned up evidence of recent criminal activity.

Searching the trash and the surrounding yard, if true, begs several other questions. I do not believe that is SOP either, perhaps it is, if not that suggests there was reason to believe there was an effort to discard or conceal incriminating evidence.

 

[dash-30-dash]

As I said yesterday, I am more concerned about who ws doing the search. The feds were looking for something.

 

[longislandcuse]

When BSK did their investigation would they have looked into computer files and searched Bernie's house/filing cabinets etc.?

 

[N.Y. Orangeman]

When BSK did their investigation would they have looked into computer files and searched Bernie's house/filing cabinets etc.?

Very, very, very unlikely.

 

[ejz555]

When BSK did their investigation would they have looked into computer files and searched Bernie's house/filing cabinets etc.?

Really?? Is that a serious question?