As we wrote May 17, Laurie Fine said she will sue ESPN for its coverage of sexual allegations against her husband, Bernie Fine. Laurie Fine’s lawsuit alleges that portions of taped phone call ESPN aired was “admittedly doctored, substantially inaudible, and entirely speculative.” The phone call purports to be between Laurie Fine and former Syracuse ball-boy Bobby Davis about Bernie Fine, a former Syracuse assistant basketball coach.
ESPN, which said the Fine lawsuit is “without merit,” has since released the “full, 46-minute conversation,” according to the Huffington Post.
See the “complete Bobby Davis and Laurie Fine phone conversation recorded by Davis on October 8, 2002” here.
ESPN notes that “noise reduction software was used to improve the quality of the audio and the names of some individuals have been removed to protect their privacy. This audio contains language that some listeners might find objectionable.”
According to USA Today, Laurie Fine’s lawyer, Lawrence H. Fisher, claimed the fully released tape will back up Fine’s case and is “an obvious public relations tactic by ESPN aimed at desensitizing the community to the defamation deriving from it.”