When they make the eventual movie about the Bernie Fine allegations (with Brian Dennehy as Bernie), it's going to be about a lot more than just two accusers vs. an alleged predator. You're going to have to cast not only Syracuse University officials, but also carve out major roles for the Syracuse District Attorney and the Syracuse Mayor.
Because this story has officially taken over the entire city.
On Monday, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick obtained a subpoena requiring the police to turn over the records from 2002 to the present for presentation to a grand jury today.
As you might remember, the Mayor and the Syracuse Police have said they will keep all results of their investigation internal until they decide to hand them over.
Fitzpatrick told the Post-Standard that he was greeted with an obscenity when he handed over the subpoena to Deputy Chief Shawn Broton. Well, at least we're all being civil.
And so, this entire situation is now beginning it's strange spiral out of control and away from what's important. The need to justify and protect political careers has begun.
Fitzpatrick is shocked by the amount of reluctance he has encountered from the police. He has said that SU is complying in full about their previous internal investigations into the matter.
The matter was supposed to be settled this morning, but state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Murphy sealed the records of what was said and adjourned until next Tuesday.
So apparently, the police department has still refused to hand over their records of the previous and current investigations. No preliminary next steps have been taken yet, but I imagine we'll hear a lot of posturing between now and Tuesday.
What does all this mean? Hell if I know. Is the police department trying to protect itself from a witch hunt or are they just worried about information leaking before they've completed their current investigation? And does Fitzpatrick have any plans to do anything public with the information once he's got it? It's all so very, very murky. And weird.
Meanwhile, Syracuse University has hired Paul Verbinnen, President and Co-founder of Sard Verbinnen & Co., as a PR consultant. Verbinnen graduated from Syracuse in 1979.