The city of Syracuse, located in upstate New York, appears conflicted regarding a well-known instance of injustice. Approximately five years prior, Onondaga County’s district attorney, William Fitzpatrick, publicly chastised the county’s choice many years ago to charge Anthony Broadwater for the assault of writer Alice Sebold. Due to the DA’s assistance, the conviction was dismissed. Today, Syracuse’s main city and the county government are still involved in a legal battle against Broadwater, who has filed a lawsuit claiming financial compensation for the time he spent in prison. The disputes appear to extend beyond the criminal and civil authorities, with the former supporting Broadwater as a wronged individual and the latter upholding the initial prosecution. An essential authority for the city and county appears to be grappling with an internal dispute or, very least, a significant shift in viewpoint. This authority, Bennett Gershman, a seasoned law professor from Pace University, submitted a report in the civil suit in December 2025, stating that the city’s prosecutors were not involved in any misconduct in the Broadwater case. However, approximately a year prior, Gershman informed me that the prosecutors had “constructed a case” against Broadwater, labeling it as “the most abhorful form of prosecutorial misconduct – when the prosecutor is establishing guilt. He continued by stating that the term ‘misconduct’ is somewhat overused in this particular situation. … It’s significantly more severe than just ordinary misconduct.
