Today the Poughkeepsie Journal is reporting that the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office released a statement declaring that Hyde Park Police officers are not suspects in the case. Sadly, the article says little else and it appears that the publication is not doing a very good job of gathering or reporting information. There isn't even a quote in the article, much less a link to the actual statement. Which of course then leads us to more questions that should be answered.
If you bother to visit the PoJo article, you will see that they no longer allow public comments on any articles related to the case, supposedly because of "repeated" violations of their terms of service. Perhaps they should hire a better moderator for the online edition comments area, rather then making the unprecedented choice to silence the public voice on the matter. Blanket censorship is hardly the hallmark of journalistic integrity.
Which then leads us now to wonder of course, why has the DCDAO chosen to have the Poughkeepsie Journal speak for them exclusively? Why was the statement not issued to the public, officially, through their own website, rather than exclusively through a for-profit publication? Didn't they learn anything from the mistake of the Hyde Park Police in their mismanagement of public information sharing? Why are we not seeing any actual official statements, only vague reports by publications who's integrity may also be compromised? If there is indeed a coverup, these vague reports can later be revised, or simp0ly written off as misunderstandings, rather than complicity, should the truth ever come out.
The possibility of a coverup is not at all far-fetched, nor is the notion of a conspiracy between agencies and perhaps even the press. The DCDAO has refused to prosecute police officers accused of violent crimes in the past, and is no stranger to corruption. Former DCDAO prosecutor G. Gordon Liddy went on to become the ringleader of the notorious Watergate break in, for example. Not that we even really need to have examples or a track-record of scandal to entertain the possibility that any police agency or prosecutor's office is not immune from misconduct.
Therefore, we must also ask why the DCDAO has chosen to make such a statement in first place? Were the DNA samples given by the two police officers processed that quickly? Much simpler toxicology reports take 6-8 weeks, as was true while the public awaited the results of the Dutchess County Medical Examiner's Office autopsy of the slain teen. Results that the public never got, after the ME was ordered by the DA to remains silent about the case. Officially, the death has not even been ruled a homicide, though police are investigating as one apparently.
It is also curious that the investigation would rule out anyone since no arrests have been made in the case. Do they even have any suspects at all? Why did the DCDAO make a statement ruling out police officers, but not anyone else, such as Katie's boyfriend Mike who was suspected initially by many people in the community. He has since told the Poughkeepsie Journal that he was ruled out as a suspect after submitting a DNA sample himself, but no such statement was ever issued by the DA or the police on his behalf. Why the favoritism being shown to police by the prosecutor's office?
From almost the beginning, the only information that the public is given on this case, is information defending the police and what appears to be a failed investigation. With each small development in the story, it appears more likely that there is indeed a conspiracy and a coverup, rather then justice for Katie.
EDIT: Looks like PoJo decided to finally put out a more in depth article this morning.
EDIT 2: Here is a link to the actual statement released by the DCDAO....
http://www.mediafire.com/?rma17e4flb7emaf
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