I’m not excusing Lynch’s actions, but Frank Clark is such a frustrating representation of Buffalo’s legal system. He completely mishandled the DeJac case in an amazingly insensitive and idiotic manner, and now he is subpoenaing half the organization on what amounts to a misdemeanor offense. Also, his repeatedly accusing Lynch and others within the organization of hiding things because they wouldn’t talk to his office is disgusting. He is supposed to be a safeguard for constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent, and yet he is chastising people for exercising those rights. This is not normal behavior and reeks of a DA begging for media attention.

I think it is obvious from my stance in the recent past that I am a strong supporter of the legal profession, but Clark is the stereotypical gasbag that gives prosecutors a bad name. I know a lot of prosecutors that are good people (that wouldn’t handle this situation in anywhere near such an aggressive fashion), but I have never heard another attorney in Buffalo say much of anything positive about Clark. I am out-of-state, but have a couple family members who are attorneys in Buffalo and his reputation is basically that of a media whore. This is such unreal overkill, and it is embarassing for Lynch, Clark, the Buffalo DA’s office, and the Bills organization. Calling in Ralph and Brandon is absurd. There is no reason to subpoena anybody other than Lynch and the players allegedly in the car.

It is rough to see Hardy (allegedly) placed in the car. I hoped Lynch would be a young player that might have a positive influence on Hardy, but it seems Lynch has a lot more baggage than I knew. I heard about the bar incidents with bringing his own sauce, but had no idea the extent of his family’s issues with the Hamburg Police. Very irritating situation all around, but considering the potential charges it can’t end too poorly as long as the subpoenaed players say they “don’t remember” for anything they don’t want to divulge. This won’t work for whether Lynch was driving, but will for whether he was drinking or drunk at the time.

Im genuinely curious what people would expect the police and DA to do.

A crime was committed, where someone was hurt.

The police and the DA pretty much know who committed the crime.

They tried to handle it directly with the person involved but were continually rebuffed.

They have further investigative powers that they reasonably believe will yield results.

What are they supposed to do, just sit there like morons? Let the case go unsolved and the person who committed the crime go unpunished? For me that would send a terrible signal to the community.

who can make decisions for themselves. We often blame their upbringing or bring up things that happened several years ago, but people (even athletes) grow over time. Mistakes I made in college or high school does not define my character now. This in the past do mold people, but molds can be redefined. They are men, and it is completely up to them whether they grow from mistakes made.

The funny thing is that if I had the power that the current athlete has in the eyes of the public; I would feel it is my civic duty to be a professional and a man. You can have a good time and be young while still being a professional.

Sorry I am going on and on, but most professional athletes don’t realize what they have. And I am not talking about the money.

I am a law guy, and subpoenaing Bills officials is highly unusual. As TBN article said, usually a case like this, in which virtually no injury occurred, is settled with a 250 dollar fine. The prosecutors here have been watching way too much CSI. Honestly, this is absolutely outrageous. Certainly Lynch shouldn’t be treated above the law, but this case shouldn’t be turned into an opportunity for members of the Buffalo police department to make national reputations. If they subpoena Wilson, they better watch out. Surely he has some high priced attorneys who might just be inclined to pursue a civil suit when this misdemeanor clears up. This is borderline DA misconduct.

now has until June20 to strike a deal with the DA or risk seeing his teammates testify against him. The DA has now set a timetable for resolution. No doubt this is preposterous grandstanding by Clark, but we will now see an end to this matter. My guess is ML and Caffery will settle this with Clark before June 20. It is now up to Marshawn to keep his teammates out of this. After this is over, I certainly hope that OBD sits down with Marshawn and family and has a frank discussion on getting along in the commumity. Over time, that ugly pattern of behavior by ML and family bothers me much more than this particular crime.
Now let’s make Jason Peters happy and get ready to get it on!

In a recent post, Keuka, you said you’d never heard of a misdemeanor case going to a Grand Jury. It does seem like a colossal waste of time.

But now we’re there, or almost there.

Just for the sake of argument, let’s say Marshawn and Caffery continue to stonewall. The players and Bills brass are called before the Grand Jury. They don’t talk, or say they don’t remember, or don’t know anything. I know this is entirely hypothetical, but what is the legal penalty for not providing information to a Grand Jury when under oath?

I still think the harsher penalty will be suspensions for Marshawn and his posse. Much more damaging to the team than any legal penalty they’ll have to pay. And they’ll all get suspended now. This has become WAY too high profile for Goodell to do anything but come down hard. I think Lynch is at 6 weeks suspension, heading for 8, and possibly more, unless he takes a plea and talks soon. The other three get lesser penalties.

It’s the immunity from prosecution for anyone who testifies. The DA can then compel the riders to testify against Marshawn. It would be interesting to see if, during Clark’s tenure, ANY other misdemeanor has ever gone to a grand jury. Wifey has worked for Seneca county for over20 years and never seen it. As jiri111 said, this is beyond ridiculous. Clark is way out of bounds here, but he can legally get away with it.. Talk about manipulating the system.

That part of the story threw me. What’s the point of going after them? As far as I can tell, they’re just high profile guys in in the organization. I wonder if either of them truly has any unique information, or if this is just Clark going after the Bills.

I wonder if a plea bargain has even been brought up in the real conversation (the one between the attorneys.) I’d think that if you offer ML a fine of $500 (more than the usual, but you have a star football player here, so its not like the fine matters that much) and some community service, he’d take it to get out of the spotlight. As I said, he can spare the money, and from what I understand he’s involved (voluntarily) in his community back in Cali, so community service shouldn’t be anything new. Makes me wonder if Clark is even willing to go that route…

Anyway, my opinion is, based on what we know, that while its not great for publicity, ML is mostly playing it right. If he’s forthcoming, he risks a bigger hit.