OAG/OAG Report on the Investigation into The Death of Edson Thevenin

OAG/OAG Report on the Investigation into The Death of Edson Thevenin

OAG/Report on the Investigation into The Death of Edson Thevenin

TROY — Eight minutes.

In a two-hour mayoral debate Tuesday night, that's how much time was devoted to the shooting death of Edson Thevenin and how Mayor Patrick Madden has responded to it.

Maybe the short shrift means the media cares more about the police killing than Troy residents. Maybe voters don't care how the Madden administration has hidden information about what led to Thevenin's death and would instead prefer to focus on nuts-and-bolts topics like shuttered swimming pools.

Maybe. Maybe not.

But what we know for certain is that Madden's mayoral challengers — Rodney Wiltshire and Republican Tom Reale — aren't willing to make the handling of the Thevenin shooting a major campaign issue. Neither was willing to raise the topic unprompted Tuesday, although both hammered Madden when a question about the shooting finally came an hour into the debate at the Lansingburgh Boys and Girls Club.

"It's hard for people to believe there's not a cover-up when there's information that's available and paid for by the public that is not being released," Reale said, adding that "it would be best for the city of Troy to get every bit of information out there for people to scrutinize."

Wiltshire was more direct, as was often the case.

"I just don't believe you," the former City Council president said to Madden, adding that the mayor's "clandestine behavior does reek of a cover-up."

Notice that neither Wiltshire nor Reale directly said there was, in fact, a cover-up. In effect, both candidates only said there sure seems to be one.

I'll say what they wouldn't: There was a cover-up.

When a Troy police internal affairs investigation found that the shooting of Thevenin by Sgt. Randall French was an unjustifiable use of force, Madden and other officials did not tell anybody. They kept the report a secret and even improperly concealed it during pre-trial discovery in the civil rights lawsuit filed by Thevenin's family.

Yes, they covered it up.

We would have never known about the report had a whistle-blower not spilled the beans, leading a judge to order its release. Otherwise, the report's damaging findings would have remained concealed forever, which we can only presume is what Madden wanted.

Madden has also refused to release a subsequent report, secretly commissioned, that apparently confirms some of the internal-affairs findings and casts doubt on others.

"I don't know what you expect the public to believe if you're not willing to release all the information," said Wiltshire, who is running on the Green and Independence party lines. Wiltshire called Thevenin's death "a terrible tragedy" that "should not have happened."

Thevenin died 41 long months ago. Nevertheless, Madden used the debate to urge the public "to be patient and wait for the facts to come out."

Repeating an argument he has made elsewhere, the mayor also suggested that the federal courthouse is the best place for the truth to be revealed.

Madden, remember, didn't say peep when former Chief James Tedesco described the shooting as "in line with the law" two days after it happened. He didn't say anything when former District Attorney Joel Abelove rushed the case to a grand jury and cleared French. In a serious abdication of leadership, the mayor has said very little about the case at all.

"I happen to believe we get to the truth through the court," Madden, who is an attorney, said during a recent visit to the Times Union's editorial board.

Meanwhile, Madden's lawyers are doing what they can to quash the lawsuit and keep it out of court. The city tried to get the case dismissed; when the judge refused to do so last week, the city indicated it would appeal.

The effort reveals the dishonesty of Madden's argument. If he believes court is where the truth should be revealed and wants that revelation to happen, why try to stop the lawsuit? Heck, Madden should be pleased Thevenin's family is suing.

If he truly meant what he said, Madden also wouldn't have been silent about the internal affairs report. In the service of truth, the city would have handed it and its damaging findings to the Thevenin family's attorneys before a judge ordered them to do that.

But nothing the city has done since Thevenin died has been about truth or transparency. All along, the city has tried to prop up the official narrative of the shooting. All along, the goal has been to hide information that might lead to the truth or allow voters to reach an informed conclusion.

"There's absolutely no cover-up," Madden said during Tuesday's debate.

More Information Chris Churchill can be reached at cchurchill@timesunion.com or 518-454-5442. See More Collapse

Well, what should we call it then?

cchurchill@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5442 ■ @chris_churchill