GENEVA, N.Y. – Laurie Fine spoke about the reduction in the quality of life she and her children experience as a result of ESPN’s coverage of molestation accusations against her husband at a news conference Wednesday.

‘It is impossible for me to describe here today what ESPN has taken from me,’ Fine said.

During the news conference, Fine and her attorney, Lawrence Fisher, discussed the libel lawsuit against ESPN and the damage done to Fine’s reputation by ESPN’s reporting of the scandal. The conference was held at 11 a.m. at Belhurst Castle in Geneva.

The libel lawsuit, filed against ESPN, ESPN reporter Mark Schwarz and producer Arthur Berko, stems from ESPN’s reporting on Bobby Davis and Mike Lang’s accusations that Fine’s husband — former Syracuse University associate men’s basketball coach Bernie Fine — molested them while they were ball boys at SU.  Bernie Fine has denied all allegations and has not been charged.

A written complaint prepared by Fisher and attorney Kevin Tucker was distributed to members of the press that outlined the lawsuit in detail. Laurie Fine’s Complaint for Libel seeks action against ESPN and specifically addresses the defamation Fine believes occurred at the hands of Schwarz and Berko.

‘Though both of these defendants have known me to be a decent and honorable woman, they have maliciously attacked me,’ Fine said. ‘They should be held accountable and justice will be served.’

Fisher answered the majority of the questions posed by the press, but Fine answered a question regarding the support she was receiving from her husband on the lawsuit.

‘Bernie does support this lawsuit,’ Fine said. ‘He’s behind me 100 percent.’

Many questions were asked about Bernie Fine and his relationship with his wife, but Fisher was reluctant to answer any such questions. He indicated that Bernie Fine spent time in both his Syracuse and Florida homes during the last six months.

Neither Fisher nor Fine answered questions regarding the relationship between the Fines and SU men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim as a result of the lawsuit.

Fisher instead tried to keep the conference’s focus on the liberties taken from Fine as a result of ESPN’s reporting.

‘It is impossible for Laurie Fine to go out in public and feel comfortable,’ Fisher said. ‘She can’t even go to Wegmans.’

On Monday, Fisher said the conference’s remote location in Geneva, which is about one hour from Syracuse, would be more understandable on Wednesday. The conference was held at Belhurst Castle for two reasons, Fisher said in the news conference. The first reason was to create a historical parallel between Carrie Harron, a strong New York woman for whom the castle was built, and Fine’s attempt to rebuild her life.

The second was to avoid partisanship from members of the Syracuse community, Fisher said.

In both the conference and the complaint, Fisher said the allegations made based on the tape excerpts released by ESPN and The Post-Standard were taken out of context. Fisher said he is confident this will hold up in a trial and that the barely audible tapes were not grounds for the accusations made against his client.

Fisher also stated he did not find issues with The Post-Standard’s reporting on the same level as ESPN. While he did call into question the ethics of their recording methods, he did not find that they were at fault to the same degree as Schwarz and Berko.

Carrie Lazarus, an anchorwoman for WSYR-TV, asked about the implications of specific clips from the tape, such as the points where Bobby Davis mentioned ‘blowing’ and ‘grabbing’ done by Bernie Fine.

‘You are now engaging in the same out of context undertaking that ESPN has,’ Fisher said in response. ‘You’re buying into the junk journalism that ESPN sold.’

Fisher directed anyone with questions regarding clips from the audio recordings to go back and read the written libel complaint.

When asked about the truthfulness of the accusations made about Laurie Fine and the likelihood that his client’s story would hold up in court, Fisher did not hesitate to express his confidence on the matter.

‘We have every expectation that this case will go to jury and the results will be devastating,’ Fisher said. ‘On both ESPN and its parent corporations.’

cedebais@syr.edu

Published on May 16, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chelsea: cedebais@syr.edu | @CDeBaise124