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Syracuse Orange Basketball: DA's Statements Do Not Conclude Bernie Fine Saga
December 7, 2011
Onondaga County district attorney William Fitzpatrick's press conference today reiterated many facts about the Bernie Fine scandal that we already knew.
However, Fitzpatrick did say that due to the statute of limitations, his office would not be pressing charges against Bernie Fine for allegedly molesting stepbrothers Bobby Davis and Mike Lang.
Furthermore, Fitzpatrick said that he will not be looking into the allegations brought forward by Zach Thomaselli because it is not an Onondaga County court issue. Bernie Fine's legal team has told CNY Central that "It appears now that there is proof that Thomaselli fabricated this allegation."
Thomaselli's claims are currently the only charges Fine could be facing moving forward. However, this does not mean this story is over.
Fitzpatrick said that both Davis and Lang are "credible," meaning that what they said happened when they were ball boys is still clouded by mystery. Taking into account the aggressive nature of reporting ESPN has taken with this story, it is very possible that digging into the past of Syracuse basketball could be done by the media rather than police.
If Thomaselli's allegations are given credibility and investigated by federal officials, then expect the Syracuse Orange basketball team to be surrounded by media controversy all season. However, if Fine's lawyer is correct, that does not mean Syracuse will simply be able to move on.
Fitzpatrick defended Chancellor Nancy Cantor and head coach Jim Boeheim, but yet said that the 2005 investigation was "inadequate," only further begging the public and media to speculate.
In regards to the current team, the issue is still Jim Boeheim's role in the whole thing. Boeheim has apologized and been sincere in doing so, making sure to enforce that it is "Syracuse University Basketball" and not Jim Boeheim Basketball.
To fans they may be one and the same, but Boeheim is right. No one is bigger than the program. Boeheim and Syracuse know that people will not let this scandal go quietly. People want to know what Boeheim did or did not know.
Regardless, while many look at Fitzpatrick's presser today as the end of scandal, in reality, we are still in the thick of this mess.