Who Let the Attack Dogs Out?

The title of the Commercial Appeal story says it all:

Flinn in web of curiously secret lawsuits

Web as in "Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive." Curious as in "doesn't it make you wonder?" Secret as in "something to hide?"

In the stable of reporters at the CA, they have the soldiers like Richard Locker and Paula Wade. They have the Wise Old Sage, Susan Adler Thorp. Marc Perrusquia is the gardener, constantly out there turning over the dirt. He's been a reliable sword in the CA's parries against the Ford family and now he's been put into the Flinn field.

What does the story turn up? Not much. George Flinn, Republican mayoral candidate, and Mary E. Norman countersued each other in 1996. The entire matter is under seal. They appear to have had a dating relationship around the same time.

Yep, that's it.

But from this slender root, Perrusquia manages to make a story that fills over 1/3 of a page, using lots of words like "unusual, declined, embarrassing, secrecy, close off, shield, smattering, troubles," and the chilling "in the vaults."

But our favorite is this passage:"Norman's suit against Flinn is locked in a vault in the Circuit Court clerk's office." Perfectly factually true, as all records are kept there, but ooooooooh, doesn't it sound nastier and juicier this way?

The story tries to imply that Flinn might have had something to do with Norman leaving a job this year:

Earlier that year, Norman left her job with Metro Traffic Network, a
company that provides road-condition reports to local TV and radio
stations. She had sold advertising for Metro Traffic since 1999, said
former co-worker David Paige.

"I know she was having some problems with Flinn at the time," Paige
said.

The two had dated for several years, he said.

Paige said he didn't know specifics about Norman's troubles with Flinn or
any details of her suit but said Flinn "had influence" with Metro Traffic.

More oooooh! Sounds kinda like he got her fired or something, doesn't it?

Perrusquia repeatedly calls the sealing "unusual," or other similar variants. But his most damning expert can only come up with this:

That's most unusual," said C. Barry Ward, a Memphis lawyer...

And this:

The case was sealed in April or May on the order of Circuit
Court Judge George H. Brown Jr., said Robert Mathews, a manager in
the clerk's office.

Reached last week, Brown said judicial ethics prohibit him from
discussing the case, but he agreed this type of all-encompassing seal
deviates from the norm.

"No, it's not common to do that," said Brown, who said such seals are
reserved for "matters of a personal nature . . . that would have an
embarrassing potential to it."

Hmm...really, um, unusual, no?

What's truly odd about this story is that, even while making a big cotton candy ball from this bit of sugar, the story appears to pass over the most damaging part:

The 1996 suit by Feldmann alleged that Flinn controlled and sexually
abused her during a personal relationship the two had beginning in June
1995. The suit alleged Flinn prescribed drugs for Feldmann and gave her
others out of his "personal supply." The drugs allegedly included the
anti-depressants Zoloft and Prozac and also Valium.

Feldmann contended she subsequently had two overdoses.

Feldmann sought up to $2 million in damages. The case was settled two
years ago under undisclosed terms. She could not be reached by The
Commercial Appeal.

Flinn's lawyers drew attention in legal papers to Feldmann's lengthy
struggle with mental illness. A psychiatric evaluation in the file
contended that Feldmann "has some features consistent with borderline
personality disorder."

Flinn, a radiologist as the CA loves to point out, prescribing anti-depressant drugs to a girlfriend? Overdoses? Psychiatric problems? This seems like the tawdry, sticky and embarrassing kind of story that would dog a candidate for weeks and yet it is merely glossed over, compared the rest of the story's treatment of Ms. Norman. Is it possible that this was a warning to Flinn of what's yet to come in future stories?

Only time will tell.

Until next time, that is all.