Fine allegations : Laurie Fine extends length of lawsuit after ESPN releases tape
Laurie Fine filed her libel lawsuit against ESPN Monday, adding four extra pages in
response to ESPN’s decision to release the full recording of the 2002 phone conversation between Fine and Bobby Davis.
‘The release of the 47-minute version of this audiotape is an obvious public relations tactic by ESPN aimed at desensitizing the community to the defamation deriving from it,’ said Lawrence Fisher, the attorney representing Fine.
ESPN released the full tape Thursday after Fine’s announcement of her plans to sue the network in federal court. Fine believes ESPN defamed her when they reported she allowed child molestation in her home and that she had sex with both Davis and other SU basketball players, all reports Fine said are false.
The extra four pages of the lawsuit also state that ESPN knew the recording was inconsistent with Davis’ allegations and that Davis deceived Fine by telling her he was not recording the conversation.
The phone conversation was recorded by Davis in an attempt to prove Fine’s husband, former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, had molested Davis.
Fine celebrates the release of the audiotape because it ‘dooms the reporting of ESPN as defamatory,’ said Fisher, her attorney. He believes the tape gives Fine an advantage.
The full version of the tape makes it apparent that Fine repeatedly confirmed that Davis was never sexually molested by Bernie, Fisher said, and that Fine repeatedly cautions Davis from contact with Bernie in light of Davis’s accusations. Additionally, Fisher said the tape makes it clear that Fine repeatedly looked out for Davis as a mother would.
The full tape’s context also shows that when Fine stated she was ‘with’ Davis because she wanted to be, she was referring to spending more time with him, which Bernie Fine had resented, Fisher said.
Now that the tape has been released, Fisher hopes his experts will thoroughly dissect it.
‘I expect that upon further expert examination, Laurie Fine’s defamation suit will be established even further,’ he said.
Fisher released the 44-page federal lawsuit to the media last Wednesday. Bernie Fine was fired from SU on Nov. 27, and has denied all allegations. He has not been charged.
Published on May 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm
