The Case Against Bernie Fine Is Falling Apart

Here's the latest on the child sex abuse allegations against former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. It's starting to look like Fine might indeed escape criminal prosecution for two reasons:

1. The letter of the law in the state of New York.

2. Serious questions about the credibility of one of Fine's accusers.

William Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga (N.Y.) County District Attorney, said today that he found Bobby Davis's and Michael Lang's accusations against Fine "credible," but he also apologized because the state of New York's statute of limitations, which is five years after the victim's 18th birthday,* has expired.

Here's more, from the Associated Press:

Fitzpatrick said a 2005 probe by the university into Davis' claims was inadequate but said people should stop calling for the resignation of Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor and Boeheim.

Blame, he said, stops with one man: "Hasn't Bernie Fine caused enough pain in this community?" Fitzpatrick said.

He said it also was wrong to make any comparison to the sex scandal at Penn State University that cost legendary football coach Joe Paterno and school president Graham Spanier their jobs.

"It's not only inaccurate, it's not fair," he said.

Meanwhile, holes are starting to emerge in the story of Zach Tomaselli, the so-called third accuser whose allegation against Fine does fall within the 10-year federal guidelines for prosecution. Per the blog Nunes Magician, the New York Daily News discovered last week that Syracuse had flown to Pittsburgh for its 2002 game there against Pitt, which is where Tomaselli claims Fine abused him in a hotel room. Those travel records are damning because they contradict Tomaselli's sworn statement that he had taken the team bus to Pittsburgh. And now Jason Whitlock has tweeted that he learned yesterday Tomaselli was in fact in school on the day of the Pitt game. "He's cooked," Whitlock added.

* This story was corrected on Nov. 12, 2012, to reflect that New York state's statute of limitations on child-sex abuse cases is when the victim turns 23.

DA: Syracuse statute of limitations has passed [AP] why is this not mentioned in any other story??? [Nunes Magician] Twitter [@WhitlockJason]