Robert Blecker's Amicus Curiae Brief on behalf of NFLPA/Brady

[FreeTedWilliams]

I will give my right nut to have the ability to write like that. Cogent and piercing.

Be careful what you wish for....

 

[QuantumMechanic]

-- You CANNOT give up all rights to sue for ALL future unknowable events. Fundamentally untrue and illogical. All that agreement does is raise the bar up to a higher level that eliminates frivolous, petty, and minor suits.

It is true that there are some suing rights you can't give up. However, agreements certainly can and do enforceably raise the bar a lot more than merely eliminating "frivolous, petty, and minor suits". For example, I'm pretty sure that in MA agreements to not sue for negligent acts (hardly "frivolous, petty, and minor suits") are enforceable, though agreements not to sue for acts of gross negligence are not.

the league conspired to withhold exculpatory evidence

You're putting the cart before the horse. Why are you assuming NE had any right to receive exculpatory evidence? Prosecutorial requirement turn over exculpatory evidence is a criminal law thing. In a civil case there's no requirement for a plaintiff to turn over something he finds that helps the defendant (though if a discovery request is made and the exculpatory evidence falls within the parameters of the discovery request there will be problems if it's not turned over). And this isn't even a civil case! If the NFL bylaws & constitution and the legal agreements between the teams and the league don't require the NFL to turn over exculpatory evidence in team discipline proceedings, they're not going to have to.

Blecher's brief SHOULD be the jumping off point of a PR campaign to get our draft picks back. While I doubt there are any legal or procedural grounds for the organization to get them back, every effort should be made to literally embarrass the league into returning the picks.

Dream on. I'm sure Kraft has for months known everything that's in Blecher's brief. He's not going to do a thing. (Other than occasionally update the Wells Report In Context website so that he can try to look good to naive fans).

To get them back the Pats will need to oil up their PR machine and make sure this narrative is spread across the sports media. "Why are the Pats losing their draft picks" SHOULD be a question that demands answers by the league. No opportunity should be missed to ask Goodell that question. He should never be allowed to speak at a public occasion WITHOUT having to answer that question.

If they do it well, they will create a groundswell of demand for justice to be done, and if they don't return the picks the league should be positioned as being a mean, petty and vindictive group who is unjustly trying to create an unlevel playing field and thus critically damaging the "integrity of the league".

And precisely who is going to be doing all this asking? The national media in the tank for the NFL? The local media who hates the team, and wouldn't be taken seriously nationally anyway? And "groundswell of demand"? HA! Remember -- people are happy NE got screwed. Hell, they'll probably like it even more than NE got screwed for something they didn't even do than if they got punished for doing something. There's not going to be any groundswell. At most you'll get "Roger is a P.O.S. liar, but he screwed NE, so that's at least one good thing he's done while commissioner."

FINALLY the truth of the fraud the cabal at 354 Park Ave perpetrated has been laid bare, and the and what the NFL did is finally labeled what it is......a FRAUD

Reread the brief. While Blecher asserts fraud here and there, the only thing actually comes right out and calls fraud are the pictures of the gauge needles. Slimy? Sure. Fraud? Seems like pretty weak sauce to me. Surely you don't think that even in an actual court (let alone a private, internal proceeding) litigants lay out the bright, unvarnished, objective truth? Witnesses are coached to word things in ways that aren't lies, but which massively shade things and try to obscure the truth, for crying out loud. I'm willing to bet than when pictures are put into evidence they are often composed, lit, etc. to favor as much as possible the party entering them as evidence. And none of that is fraud.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Not correct. Teams have agreed to neither sue the league nor each either.

And the commissioner is supposed to be an honest, upstanding person of integrity.

 

[Tony2046]

Be careful what you wish for....

That's frickin hilarious.

 

[raduray]

Excerpt from the ESPN Amicus brief:

Is that from Lester Munson?

 

[Betterthanmost]

I've been hoping for some sort of challenge to the investigation for months. Thought it might be a defamation lawsuit, but this is even better!

The only issue I see here is that it requires reading! It does not have bombastic headlines and vapid talking points the masses crave. You need to be engaged in sustained concentration to understand the issues being raised in here. People will dismiss the the slight of hand on the visuals with the needles on the gages. That is huge imo. It should be an insult to even the slowest media personality that Wells and Exponents pulled this over their eyes, but Volin will be looking for the connection between Blecker's grandparents and the Krafts.

 

[Urgent]

That was a striking document. Does not read at all like an objective legal review - the position and language are pretty aggressively pro-Patriot.
The author seems isolated from the specific terms that the legal team was allowed to argue - specifically process, not the content of the findings.
And odd that no media sources have picked this up. Another pretty clear defense of the science-based approach to ball deflation, instead of the NFL/media story of cell phones and 11 balls under 12.5. Surprising that no major media outlet has based a story on the fundamental science. Anyone who reviews the science can only conclude that either:
1) All the balls fall within the range of expected science
or
2) The gauges the NFL uses are hopelessly variable and inaccurate

Any who ignores the science can fly the cheater flag.

 

[XLIX]

Ok, but i can still sue the draftee. Any way that makes go-to-hell look freakin impotent works for me.
-- Sueing the draftee maybe works even better at the ultimate objective of making roger look silly and getting other owners to finally say we have to get rid of him and stop the bleeding.

With all due respect, if the Patriots sued someone that was drafted by another team, the only party that looks stupid in that instance is the Patriots.

I agree they should have sued the league anyway, but this solution wouldn't work.

 

[Galeb]

The only good thing that came out of deflategate is the IANAL acronym.

 

[memento]

Note: IANAL is a reddit acronym for "I am not a lawyer."

 

[ChessToCheckers]

Yes! While he continually calls out Goodell and the NFL as frauds, he also throws the NFLPA attorney under the bus many times for being silent on a few important rebuttals and also being more fixated on the unfair unchecked power of Goodell and less concerned with Brady's reputation.

If I were a betting man, I'd think that the tactic of throwing the NFLPA under the bus was his way of piling on the NFL. The brief has more power if it shows no bias to either side.

Kessler's attack is narrow and on procedural points. It has to be, as this is an appeals proceeding. Blecker's attack is broad, based on science, and emphasizes bias and fraud. I think it's just about perfect!

 

[JJDChE]

I'd like it be the way you guys outline it, but I think it is simply wishful thinking.

On top of that, there isn't any motivation I can see that would cause Kraft to want to sue his partners in the business they run together (the NFL), on which his private business (The Patriots) is entirely dependent on for any business viability and success. He might tussle with them on the outcome of this situation, but a lawsuit would indicate a relationship that just doesn't exist.

For one, he wouldn't be suing the other owners. Two, presumably, he wouldn't be looking for damages that would hurt the business operations of the other teams in any way. It would simply be to re-instate draft picks and return a fine levied under false pretenses. Three, I think you're off if you assume the other owners would be against it. Don't you think they want a precedent set that an individual team can hold some power over the league office if they go rouge? I would if I was an owner. They may say publicly that they side with the NFL to keep things copacetic, but you know damn well that no one wants to be powerless against discipline levied by the NFL.

I had a fourth point, but I forget now.

Still, I doubt Kraft would do it. He doesn't really seem to have that fight in him and a million really is a drop in the bucket to him. So, whatever.

 

[NashuaPats]

Yahoo sports has now picked up this story. Hopefully, it's starting to gain some traction.

N.Y. law professor files deflate-gate brief accusing NFL of fraud

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Yahoo sports has now picked up this story. Hopefully, it's starting to get some traction.

Florio did, too.

 

[Buchanty]

I did a little research on Amici Curiae, but without the necessary legal training I would hesitate to jump to final conclusions about importance and impact, at least not without someone with the necessary training to confirm, deny or correct my observations.

First observation is that Amicus Curiae is ill defined, especially as to judicial standing and the attribution of any power in reaching judgement. Nevertheless there does appear to be two distinct forms, a private version and one for the government and its component branches. The former has limitations on both standing and power, while the latter enjoys much greater faculties within the federal legal process.

Professor Robert Blecker's Amicus Curiae is a private brief, however there are some interesting quotes available in an American University Law Review article by Michael Lowman regarding amicus curiae:

...... a governmental amicus may lend the court executive powers necessary to enforce the court's
decrees. As a result, federal appellate courts have adopted a policy of permitting almost unfettered
governmental amicus curiae involvement.

The Supreme Court has espoused the principle that a federal district court may always call on a concurrent branch of government, as amicus curiae, to represent the public interest."

Again I bow to superior knowledge on such matters, but I interpret this to mean that not only can the court accept Blecker's brief but in addition it can call on a concurrent branch of the government to represent public interest*. Blecker's production of clear evidence of fraud by the NFL and its agencies, could suggest to the court that the relevant branch could very well be the FBI, especially as it relates to public interest.

Please do not take this as fact. I am only punting my inexperienced thoughts in the hope that a legal expert can establish scope and possibilities. If this eventually leads to an option that allows us as members of the public to redress the crimes of 345 Park Avenue then so much the better.

* another section of the article indicates some possible powers for a Governmental Amicus Curiae:

Under some circumstances a governmental amicus, acting like a party, may seek to enforce a
district court decision, introduce and examine witnesses, conduct discovery, seek injunctions,
and petition for appeal.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

And precisely who is going to be doing all this asking? The national media in the tank for the NFL? The local media who hates the team, and wouldn't be taken seriously nationally anyway? And "groundswell of demand"? HA! Remember -- people are happy NE got screwed. Hell, they'll probably like it even more than NE got screwed for something they didn't even do than if they got punished for doing something. There's not going to be any groundswell. At most you'll get "Roger is a P.O.S. liar, but he screwed NE, so that's at least one good thing he's done while commissioner."

WOW! That's pretty cynical. I know the media has an agenda. I know people let their emotions get the best of them when it comes to sports.

However, I don't think our society has become so degenerate that they would celebrate allowing a punishment to stand despite clear proof that the accusation was wrongful . . . I could be wrong.

Maybe someday, Bob Dylan will write a song about Brady.

 

[slam]

So this is what an honest depiction of the two needles would look like. I adjusted the Wells' report image in photoshop.

First, I made the rulers match the left alignment.

Next, I had to increase the size of the lower image to make the rulers’ size match. It seems to be almost 20% larger than previously.

Last, I slid the top needle to the left so that the needle’s base aligned the the start of the needle.

So, we really think that these needles could be confused with one another? If so, that referee really needs his eyes checked.

 

[JJDChE]

The scale in your top picture is way off. You made the rulers the same scale, but the needle at the top is clearly not at the proper scale. I don't understand what you are trying to show with this.

 

[slam]

Both needles were posed against a ruler to demonstrate scale. The Wells' report made the bottom image smaller in order to further the argument that the needles were easily confused with one another. They are not. One is twice as long as the other. They also misplaced the start of the measurement on the top image by two centimeters in order to make the needles seem to be almost the same.

If the two needles were physically next to one another posed next to rulers with correct alignment, that is what it would look like.

This is the original image. If you look at the two rulers, which are meant to be scale references, the distance in the top image from the left of the ruler to the 1 inch mark is 310 pixels. In the bottom image the distance from the left of the ruler to the 1 inch mark is 262 pixels. That's a difference of 18%. The Wells Report zoomed in on the top image by 18% to the needles seem of similar size. And it shifted where it measured from the base of the need to the bottom of the screw on cap, which added an extra 1.75 cm of length or so. If you were to measure both needles from the base of the needle itself to the end, the top is 7cm and the bottom is 14cm. The report does its best to hide that.

 

[Galeb]

However, I don't think our society has become so degenerate that they would celebrate allowing a punishment to stand despite clear proof that the accusation was wrongful . . . I could be wrong.

Our society has degenerated to the point where most people believe what they want, regardless of the source. Many would simply choose not to acknowledge that the accusation was wrong and simply believe crap spewed by the likes of Mort. Far too few strive to break through their programming and see the world genuinely. The realization of this truth would serve you well.