By Aaron Besecker
News Staff Reporter
After testimony given on five separate days, suspended Cold Case Squad Detective Dennis A. Delano's disciplinary hearing came to a close this afternoon with attorneys on both sides claiming to have proven their case.
While on the witness stand and under questioning from his lawyer, Steven M. Cohen, Delano told Hearing Officer Thomas N. Rinaldo he was certain Lynn M. DeJac didn't murder her daughter, Crystallynn Girard, in 1993.
"It just couldn't happen," Delano said during a little less than an hour of testimony this morning.
One of the main themes of the defense case has been Delano's frustration and the obstacles he said he faced from prosecutors and others in reviewing the Girard case.
He ultimately was interested in pursuing the truth, his attorney has said, and it was that frustration that led Delano to give WGRZ-TV, Channel 2, video footage of the 1993 crime scene and a videotaped polygraph test. Police Department brass are trying to fire Delano for that act.
Cohen offered evidence … video of earlier broadcasts on WIVB-TV, Channel 4, as well as WGRZ that he said shows crime scene images were given by an unknown source to local television outlets prior to Delano giving footage to Channel 2.
The earlier broadcasts were aired in November 2007, while the later Channel 2 broadcast aired in February of last year.
Delano, whose tesimony concluded this afternoon, was suspended last February, and has been charged with insubordination and distributing evidence.
Testimony in the hearing began Jan. 27.
Rinaldo will make a recommendation to Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson, deciding on Delano's guilt or innocence, and possible punishment. Gipson has the authority to follow the hearing officer's decision or make his own.
If Gipson decides Delano should be terminated, Delano has the option of appealing through the courts, his lawyer said.
The timeline for a decision is fluid.
Once the hearing transcripts are completed, attorneys on both sides have about 30 days to submit post-hearing briefs. Rinaldo's decision would follow in approximately another 30 days, though he said some extensions may be granted.
A decision won't take longer than four months, Rinaldo said.
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