Devo Gets His Day In "Court"

Eric Devendorf will appear Thursday before the SU Judicial Board regarding the alleged incident where he punched a female SU student in the face.  The hearing was supposed to take place today but it was postponed so that the accuser's lawyer could be present. 

Nice try slipping that one by everyone, SU. 

As a reminder, here's the allegation made by Kimberly Smith:

Smith, 20, has said she was driving her car about 3 a.m. in the 900 block of Walnut Avenue when several people began kicking her car. Smith told police she got out of the car to stop them, and she said Devendorf walked up to her and struck her with a closed fist.

She also told police that Devendorf shouted obscenities and told her to get back in the car. Devendorf was gone by the time police arrived.

Sullivan said that Smith was arriving at a party at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity as Devendorf was leaving. Sullivan, who is based in Syracuse, would not say what prompted the incident between Devendorf and Smith, but said that witnesses will corroborate Devendorf's testimony Thursday that he was raising his hand to defend himself, not to strike Smith in the face.

"He's six-foot-four, 185 pounds," Sullivan said. "There's no mark. Nothing. I find that in and of itself lacking in credibility. I look forward to Mr. Devendorf being exonerated."

Smith is claiming that the other four people kicking her car were also SU basketball players but she's not saying exactly who just yet.  That's...curious.  For what reason would she not name the others?  Surely, she has no reason to protect them...they were kicking her car...they're not friends.  Unless that's all made up.  Hmmm...

The hearing was held up because Smith's lawyer requested to be present.  As you might remember from the Flynn/Scoop/Jackson hearing, lawyers cannot speak on behalf of students in these hearings but they are allowed to speak softly with them.  No word on the official decibel level they must adhere to.  Also, that's retarded.

Normally the accuser wouldn't be allowed to have a lawyer present, only the accused.  In this case the board decided to allow Smith's attorney, Richard Kesnig, in the interest of fairness.  I think they also allowed it because Kesnig is clearly an old-timey lawyerin'-type from a 1940's cartoon:

"That's hogwash. I can't even dignify that with a response."

"In my opinion, a lot of hooey."

Are we sure Richard Kesnig isn't actually Foghorn Leghorn?  I say, I say...

The Syracuse.com article also implies that Devo is already on some kind of university probation:

It has been reported that Devendorf is on some kind of probation at SU. Sullivan declined to comment on that.

That's not surprising.  Hopefully, whatever slap on the wrist he's received is all he gets.  Unless he actually did do this.  Then he deserves an entirely different kind of slap.  Something tells me that, although we'll know more on Thursday, we'll never really know the truth.  Such is the SU Judicial Board.