Ultimately, Where is The Bernie Fine Case Heading?

[SUFan44]

I'm so sick and tired of hearing speculation, of hearing "just wait and see", of hearing "it doesn't look good for Bernie", of hearing " just hit the fan"... when is this coming? What is the timeline? It's been a week, and nothing has happened... is this standard operating procedure in these types of cases? I'm asking, I don't know.

The facts (at least the way I am interpreting them) are we heard an Outside the Lines report from Mark Schwarz, alleging (allegedly) that Bernie Fine molested Bobby Davis. We have heard another person, Davis' step-brother, come forward and say he was also molested. And we have heard a friend and former girlfriend of Davis' come forward and say she had a sneaky suspicion something was going on.

Outside of that, we've had the DA and the Syracuse Police Department come out and basically look like idiots. We've had Jim Boeheim come out and deny everything, numerous alums and former assistants come out and give character testimonials about Fine, but no other facts. All hearsay, all rumor, all speculation, and all crap IMO.

I love coming to this forum for information. I really do, and although I don't post as much as some, I would like to think of myself as a pretty level-headed person and as big a Syracuse fan as there is.

Reading and watching what has gone on, I would like to think that Bernie Fine is not guilty of the allegations. That doesn't mean he won't lose his job, but I don't think he did anything wrong.

But this whole situation has my head spinning, thanks in large part to a number of posters on here who are speculating that the second shoe is yet to drop. This tape, new evidence, yada yada yada.

I just want answers. I want solid, concrete proof. And I don't want any more veiled attempts at looking like someone knows something, but doesn't say it. Please. For my sanity.

 

[dash-30-dash]

Solid answers take more then a week to get. Justice takes time. no one wants to come out and say there is no proof of the charges and the following day someone new comes forward. We will have our answers in due course. Be patient. It's been 6 days. A long time to bernie and the accusers. Not for the scales of justice.

 

[AZOrange]

BF's guilt/innocence all rides on more victims coming forward, an indictment, a trial and a verdict. Short of that happening there really is no closure for him.

 

[moqui]

if you are hoping for a quick resolution, you are going to be disappointed. This is going to drip, drip, drip for months, maybe a year or more.

My prediction:

Guilty or not guilty, Bernie is not going to be exonerated; that isn't how this works. There will always be a cloud of doubt over him and, given the expiration of the SOL, he will never have a day in court to be found not guilty by a jury of his peers. At some point, a public announcement will be made that there is no corroboration to the charges, and maybe the University will release the full BSK report from 2005, but there will remain a group of people convinced that something did happen.

Other than the slow drip, drip, drip, I think that JB, the program and the University will come through this intact (although, I wouldn't be surprised if the burden of it doesn't ultimately hasten JB's retirement).

There will be other casualties, however. Some public servant(s) at either the SPD or the DA or both will go down.

 

[RF2044]

if you are hoping for a quick resolution, you are going to be disappointed. This is going to drip, drip, drip for months, maybe a year or more.

My prediction:

Guilty or not guilty, Bernie is not going to be exonerated; that isn't how this works. There will always be a cloud of doubt over him and, given the expiration of the SOL, he will never have a day in court to be found not guilty by a jury of his peers. At some point, a public announcement will be made that there is no corroboration to the charges, and maybe the University will release the full BSK report from 2005, but there will remain a group of people convinced that something did happen.

Other than the slow drip, drip, drip, I think that JB, the program and the University will come through this intact (although, I wouldn't be surprised if the burden of it doesn't ultimately hasten JB's retirement).

There will be other casualties, however. Some public servant(s) at either the SPD or the DA or both will go down.

Agree 100%.

 

[Madbiker]

All heresay, no evidence. No other accusers. If that's all there is they'll just find there is insufficient evidence to file charges. Unfortunately to some that will not clear Bernie just leave a cloud over him.

 

[SaintTristan]

The Hague.

 

[Jeepers]

Agree 100%.

Me three.

Only way is for Davis and Co. to admit it's all BS. Or, if something like the 5 lawsuits ends up being true and made public.

 

[RF2044]

Question for the lawyers on the board: my belief [and I want to qualify this by acknowledging up front that this is my belief ONLY] is that Davis / Lang coming forward is motivated by the potential for this to turn into a lawsuit. Given that the SOL limits the criminal case, I believe that what motivated Davis to come forward and approach the University in 2005 was to set up a lawsuit...or to grease the wheel for a settlement of some kind. In other words, this whole thing is about how to parlay the accusations into a quick buck.

Given the tumult between SPD / DA's office, and the finger pointing about how badly one or the other agency might have screwed up back in 2003, would Lang and Davis have the opportunity to sue either of the two agencies? And if so, on what grounds?

 

[moqui]

Given the tumult between SPD / DA's office, and the finger pointing about how badly one or the other agency might have screwed up back in 2003, would Lang and Davis have the opportunity to sue either of the two agencies? And if so, on what grounds?

denial of his civil rights

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I've got no idea where this is heading but the fct that a week has gone by and no more accusers have stepped forward means nothing. How long did it take from the time the Sandusky GJ deliberations were made public until the first two new accusers -- that we know about -- came forward? Certainly much longer than one week. I am afraid this is going to be a long, miserable several months at the very least for Bernie, his accusers and fans of SU basketball. All I can hope for is that the truth comes out. More realistically, I think the current investigations will be inconclusive, which is the worst possible outcome for both Bernie and Davis/Lang. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Gatekeeper]

It going to take a long time. The only way that i see this going away quicker is BF lawyers hire a PI and dig into these guys background and find out that they made it up all along. All they got last time was a back handed slap and BF just went on with his life. Now it has changed a lot.

The SYR PD is going to have to get complete statements of when where and how. Then go and see if it matches up with what evidence is out there. The problem with a really big lie it is takes time to break it down one piece at a time.

Did 20 years in the Coast Guard and had an forgery signature by a lower officer for the Commanding Officer and early on (hope this happens with this case) when they asked the CO how he new that it was a forgery he stated he always signed the doucments in blue ink... Always and these that were forged... signed in black ink. The lower officer wasn't smart enough to know that pattern; A quick check of all other records and yep he always signed in blue in just like he said...

My point is "JB saw me in the room with BF" JB I never go in the coaches rooms never... Easy enough to check with all of the coaches... It is that type of thing that will bust the big lie and hope it happens. And hopefully it happens a lot with these two so that they crack and realize that the lie won't hold up.

But to do that it takes time...

 

[orangefan13]

To the return of Billy Edelin and Deshaun Williams.
:Joking:

 

[Macho Uno]

I predict this never goes to court but Bernie ends up looking bad, Bernie will not be a coach next year, and some Syracuse public officials resign. JB stays on the job.

 

[PoppyHart]

PSU took somewhere close to 3 years. This could be like the Energizer bunny.

 

[PoppyHart]

All heresay, no evidence. No other accusers. If that's all there is they'll just find there is insufficient evidence to file charges. Unfortunately to some that will not clear Bernie just leave a cloud over him.

Nice! A cross between hearsay and heresy.

 

[rstone7727]

Sit down in front of a mirror, then tell yourself "SUFan44, this soap opera will finally be answered on January 30th 2012. Then, when it gets resolved on January 10th, you'll say "Wow, that was quick"!

 

[sufandu]

This isn't CSI. These things usually take months to investigate. In most cases like this people don't realize it because it's not newsworthy, and if it is it makes the news only after the investigation has uncovered enough for indictments. We saw a "news" outlet make accusations without any real evidence and then law enforcement decided to look into it. It'll be a while so you'll have to sit tight.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

I'm so sick and tired of hearing speculation, of hearing "just wait and see", of hearing "it doesn't look good for Bernie", of hearing " just hit the fan"... when is this coming? What is the timeline? It's been a week, and nothing has happened... is this standard operating procedure in these types of cases? I'm asking, I don't know.

The facts (at least the way I am interpreting them) are we heard an Outside the Lines report from Mark Schwarz, alleging (allegedly) that Bernie Fine molested Bobby Davis. We have heard another person, Davis' step-brother, come forward and say he was also molested. And we have heard a friend and former girlfriend of Davis' come forward and say she had a sneaky suspicion something was going on.

Outside of that, we've had the DA and the Syracuse Police Department come out and basically look like idiots. We've had Jim Boeheim come out and deny everything, numerous alums and former assistants come out and give character testimonials about Fine, but no other facts. All hearsay, all rumor, all speculation, and all crap IMO.

I love coming to this forum for information. I really do, and although I don't post as much as some, I would like to think of myself as a pretty level-headed person and as big a Syracuse fan as there is.

Reading and watching what has gone on, I would like to think that Bernie Fine is not guilty of the allegations. That doesn't mean he won't lose his job, but I don't think he did anything wrong.

But this whole situation has my head spinning, thanks in large part to a number of posters on here who are speculating that the second shoe is yet to drop. This tape, new evidence, yada yada yada.

I just want answers. I want solid, concrete proof. And I don't want any more veiled attempts at looking like someone knows something, but doesn't say it. Please. For my sanity.

You are not going to get anything concrete on an internet fan board, so I think you need to manage your expectations.

 

[otisco]

Question for the lawyers on the board: my belief [and I want to qualify this by acknowledging up front that this is my belief ONLY] is that Davis / Lang coming forward is motivated by the potential for this to turn into a lawsuit. Given that the SOL limits the criminal case, I believe that what motivated Davis to come forward and approach the University in 2005 was to set up a lawsuit...or to grease the wheel for a settlement of some kind. In other words, this whole thing is about how to parlay the accusations into a quick buck.

Given the tumult between SPD / DA's office, and the finger pointing about how badly one or the other agency might have screwed up back in 2003, would Lang and Davis have the opportunity to sue either of the two agencies? And if so, on what grounds?

Yes. Governmental denial and neglect of their civil rights. Coming forward now aiming for civil remedy (damages), the only relief presently available given that the criminal charges are statutorily precluded, is not unreasonable. That assumes, of course, that there is a factual basis for coming forward. A non-trivial assumption.