Listen to Fizzcast with Fitzpatrick:
D.A. had his say on Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick and Delone Carter, but consider an alternate viewpoint.
Fitzpatrick is elected in order to see that justice is served for the people and, as he told me in a conversation for WAER radio, that’s what he was doing.
“We did the right thing by Mr. Hotaling. That was my motive from day one on the case. I think Mr. Carter was treated fairly too. He is from all indications from the people that I’ve spoken to a good kid who did a really stupid and malicious thing and we don’t want to judge a person’s life by fifteen seconds of lunacy. I hope that he learned his lesson and I suspect that he did and that he moves on with his life.”
He‚Äôs supposed to try people for the crimes that they commit. Carter admitted to punching Hotaling, but¬†Hotaling requested¬†the case not go to trial. Additionally,¬†Carter’s misdemeanor charge was reduced to a violation and could be dismissed after a year‚Äôs time if¬†the runningback¬†avoids further trouble.
But D.A. Рfor you to say that it was “preachy, pulpit, condescending bullsh*t” is just plain wrong. Have you EVER read the comments on Syracuse.com? After someone writes “FIRST” or points out a spelling error Рit all becomes racism and hate speech. On top of that, you were the one that wrote the post ripping Hotaling in the first place!
As much as it’s easy to disagree with what Fitzpatrick wrote in the press release, he still has a job to do and a job to keep. His website reads “Not only must we punish the guilty, but we must protect the innocent” and this is a prime example of that.
Just read the release: “Mr. Hotaling was walking home from a friend’s dorm and was NOWHERE NEAR the snowballers, he did NOT pick up any snow and was simply walking home.”�
Fitzpatrick is trying to send a message. In a 24/7 news cycle where anybody can jump on a computer and pretend to be whoever they want and say whatever they want, it’s this kind of “cesspool of misinformation that you get.”
He went on to tell me: “When everybody agrees that it’s a fair disposition, usually it’s a pretty good indicator that justice has been done.” That’s what this was about. Hotaling had his name smeared left and right for something he didn’t do. The tone that Fitzpatrick gives off in the memo is perfectly understandable and reasonable.
The court of Syracuse public opinion should be disbarred for life.
Posted: Mike Couzens
