Steph - Answering Your Deflategate Legal Questions

[RelocatedPatFan]

This is fantasy-line thinking here....but

It'd be wonderful for Judge Berman to force all of the documentation and emails that Wells had gathered to be public because of the NFL's "public" insistence that Wells and his team were independent. I now and you know and they know he wasn't.

but, by the NFL constantly driving the point, I'd love it is the judge forced the situation to be thus...and then opened it up to a truly independent arbitrator or just sent the NFL running with it's tail between it's legs.

Thank you for allowing me to indulge in few moments of "Patriot Retribution Fantasy".

 

[eom]

Rich Kimball ‏@DowntownRichK
We'll discuss #DeflateGate with attorney/writer @StephStradley & check in with @Gary_Tanguay and @SteveWLBZ2, 4-6 pm ET on @The_Pulse_Maine

 

[juny]

cant wait for the idiots to try argue legalese with an actual attorney

 

[patsfan13]

That available in the ri ma market?

If not someone need to keep us informed.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Nice to see her getting some national run. Too bad it's Tanguay the slime ball.

Hopefully they are not on at the same time.

 

[eom]

available online
http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/WZON

omg marilu henner has a show on here
is it wrong to be into a 63 yr old chick?

 

[eom]

crushed it

 

[eom]

https://twitter.com/StephStradley/status/628802253772599296

just a little error in recollection of events?

it's p late + I'm half asleep

 

[eom]

Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley 3m3 minutes ago

Finished #Deflategate transcript. Can see why NFL wanted sealed. They want to win bc legal standard favors them. Not bc Brady did anything.

 

[ViperGTS]

https://twitter.com/StephStradley/status/628802253772599296

just a little error in recollection of events?

it's p late + I'm half asleep

No it's the machinations of deception and lying. Always gets caught. Always.

 

[ausbacker]

Convicting an innocent man because their flawed system allows it. Super ****ing administrators those in the NFL.

 

[Wheelman]

Steph is doing the work of the Gods! I heart her!

 

[patsfan13]

She has a blog post of her observations after finishing the transcript in a narrative form,great read.

http://www.stradleylaw.com/nfl-brady-deflategate-transcript/

 

[Mack Herron]

This is so true! Sad but true! Even I am guilty of this.

The difference is that you and I are merely fans. As soon as we were presented with the facts, we recognized what sort of snake Goodell is. Kraft helped select and hire the man and--most importantly--after irregularities were presented in numerous NFL actions, continued to defend him publicly. This is not a single "mistake." This is a series of considered, calculated, unprincipled decisions. Goodell is a moron, but the people who brought him into power and continue to help him maintain that power bear significant responsibility for the consequences. Goodell should be dismissed for his flagrant abuses and the owners should be acting post haste to do so. Kraft should be at the front of that parade.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

For those of us old enough to remember, this is like Watergate redux.. Then it was the Nixon Administration stonewalling and trying to control the narrative ("it was a third rate burglary" per Press secretary) and then it unraveled as the coverup ensued. Here it is the league lying and obfuscating and stonewalling and trying to seal documents.....
I hope it ends the same way ...with the man at the top resigning and flying off to someplace else....
And" our long national nightmare will be over"......

 

[Brewskies]

Stephanie did an outstanding job breaking down to layman's terms. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the read.

 

[Buchanty]

Can't express how useful Stephanie's input has been, and all pro bono (good way to get national limelight btw).

My favorite from last night is that it all boils down to a lawyers' discovery dispute........ first Wells said he didn't need Brady's phone, just the texts, and then he said he did. Moreover he based Brady's guilt on him not producing it. Switcheroo, the 3 card trick of the legal profession.

From her Twitter stream

 

[smurfalarm]

Convicting an innocent man because their flawed system allows it. Super ****ing administrators those in the NFL.

According to the precedent of previous appeal hearing awards and federal court decisions, their system doesn't allow it. Goodell just completely sidestepped the issue of whether or not the system allows it by preventing anyone from actually reviewing the issue. He made a gamble that he and his underlings could 1) willfully disregard collectively bargained disciplinary policies (as well as basic fairness) in issuing the initial discipline, 2) short circuit the independent appeal process so that he could rule in his own favor that he did not violate the collectively bargained policies that he and NFL employees did in fact violate and that the lies used to support the discipline were actually truths, 3) forever seal off the evidence of this malfeasance from the public, and 4) either get Brady to accept a settlement or quickly win in court on the technicality of the limited scope of appeals to arbitration awards. Presumably he and his lawyers had not anticipated that Brady would steadfastly maintain his innocence and would not settle quickly, and the federal judge would not be keen to obfuscate the truth to the public in order to fight the NFL's PR battle for them. I still have no idea if Brady has a good shot in court, but I do know that the NFL has irreparably torn apart whatever shreds of their reputation they had left. No player will ever trust the league office going forward.

It never had to be this way. Consider that the NFLPA agreed to use the previous commissioner as a neutral arbitrator for reviewing disciplinary decisions, and that previous commissioner ruled in the player's favor. The NFLPA used to have at least some sort of trust and rapport with the commissioner. That is gone for as long as Goodell is in charge of the league office. Maybe for good. Who knows what repercussions that will have in the next CBA negotiations.

 

[IllegalContact]

So basically, the NFL owners each pool together $1.375M to have the world direct all their hatred towards Goodell rather than themselves.......

I'll tell you he's good at that!!!

 

[eom]

People should have learned a long time ago to never bet against brady