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Columbia reverses course, agrees to give cops noose video
After stonewalling cops for more than 24 hours, Columbia University has agreed to hand over security tapes that could help ID the person who left a hangman's noose on a black professor's office door. The Ivy League school initially told cops they needed a subpoena to get a look at security tapes from Teachers College and the names of students in Professor Madonna Constantine's classes.Cops then spent hours putting together the legal paperwork and getting a judge to sign off on the court order around midnight last night, they said. They were about to serve the subpoena on Columbia when the university flip-flopped - after getting media inquiries - and agreed to hand over 56 hours of tape. "It's unfortunate because it adds a time-consuming step to the investigation," Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said of Columbia's refusal to assist the investigation voluntarily. Columbia spokeswoman Diane Dobry refused to answer questions about the delay, issuing a statement that said only: "We are giving the tapes to the police." Investigators have no suspects. They have questioned a number of Columbia staffers including a professor who was sued for defamation by Constantine. Posted by: Fred 2007-10-12 |
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