Comments on Advance Indiana™: Georgetown Hate Crime Case Falling Apart

Great column -- very perceptive. Here's one reaso...

2007-11-05T15:08:00.000-05:00

Great column -- very perceptive. Here's one reason why this case should fall apart: The police have the wrong man. Take a look at this Georgetown University email to students about an incident that happened one month AFTER the incident for which Cooney was arrested:

"Two unknown persons assaulted and made homophobic remarks to a complainant at 2:34 a.m. Sunday, October 14, 2007. A complainant reported to DPS that at approximately 2:34 a.m., he was approached by two unknown males as he walked up Lauinger library steps. The suspects made homophobic remarks and followed the complainant to the Healy building. The suspects pushed the complainant into the side of the building and blew smoke in his face."

Let's see. Two assailants. Homophobic slurs. 2:30 in the morning. On a Sunday. On the Georgetown campus. Just like the facts surrounding the assault the police have arrested Cooney for. Could it be that these are the assailants, not Cooney?

This prosecution should be ended. The police made a bad arrest, based on a bad identification. The prosecutors don't have to perpetuate the error and continue to ruin Cooney's life.

The Hoya got it wrong. Here's their correction:*T...

2007-10-23T03:53:00.000-05:00

The Hoya got it wrong. Here's their correction:

*The article "Cooney Turns Down Plea Offer" (THE HOYA, Oct. 16, 2007, A1) incorrectly stated that Philip Cooney's attorney, Dan Onorato, said that he and Metropolitan Police Department detectives interviewed a friend of the victim, who allegedly denied prior knowledge of the alleged hate crime that Cooney has been charged with. Onorato said that he and MPD detectives spoke with the friend of Cooney whose discussion was allegedly overheard by the victim's friend, and he said that Cooney's friend denied speaking of the incident or having any prior knowledge of it.

The case is falling apart alright. Shocking that ...

2007-10-20T10:36:00.000-05:00

The case is falling apart alright. Shocking that even though the police had conflicting accounts raising serious doubts about the i.d. process prior to arresting Cooney, they still failed to even question him. It doesn't even appear that they have done anything to investigate the victim's account of events, his whereabouts that evening, or his sketchy identification process at all. The police have no motivation to do so, because they will look bad if Cooney is dismissed. One wonders when the victim and his friends learned of Cooney's ties to the Bush Administration, and when the police learned that information. Was it before or after he was pinpointed? Shouldn't the police look into that? Unfortunately for them, Cooney's reputation is so impeccable they are having trouble convincing anyone that he is the perpetrator, except for those who are simply desperate to believe it. The facts are just not supporting the prosecution.