#DFG: Canceling the Noise

Is there any level of suspension that you would advise Tom to accept?


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djbayko

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Okay. I'll bite. Considering that the Ideal Gas Law entirely explains the balls' psi levels, what compelling circumstantial evidence is there of tampering?

Seems to me there's much more compelling evidence of NFL bias -- disregarding Walt Anderson's memory of which gauge he used -- and even fraud -- leaking false psi numbers to the media and Exponent's photographic trickery with the needles. Not to mention Goodell lying about Brady's testimony and Clement repeating it to the court.
You and I believe that, but you're ignoring the fact that there is a scientific report that the NFL arbitrator relied upon which states otherwise. That's in the record, and you can't erase it.
 

dcmissle

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I think you said some time ago that you've had a few expedited appeals in the Second. What's your experience on decision timing in those cases versus a typical schedule?
Range was 2 weeks to 2 months.

I think if this panel affirms, we could hear any time.

If there is a reversal though, they owe Berman at least a decent explanation, and that's going to take a bit longer.

As a practical matter, they can string this to the first week of September -- game 1 -- without seriously messing with anyone.
 

dhappy42

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You and I believe that, but you're ignoring the fact that there is a scientific report that the NFL arbitrator relied upon which states otherwise. That's in the record, and you can't erase it.
The Wells Report doesn't contain compelling evidence of tampering. The Wells Report doesn't even make the claim that its evidence is compelling.
 

Marciano490

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To our learned brethren: Do judges ever go on the offensive, not so much as to simply get an answer, but just to see how a party reacts to a specific question or line of questioning?
There are all sorts. Some judges like gunslinging up on the bench; I've heard (and again this was just clerk conjecture) that some judges just like to be heard or have fun pushing back on council or being "hot". Who knows? They're all human.

I know a guy who used to be a clerk magistrate (now retired) and he told me that much of the time he knew nothing of the case until he was handed the file just before it started. He wasn't a judge, of course, but he said that was typical of judges as well. Now, this guy is like 85 now, so we're talking many years ago. And I don't know what kind of judges he was talking about. It made sense to me, though, as it jibed with how Judge Judy acts on TV.

So my question is whether judges at this level come into a case knowing only a little bit, then asking questions to get more information, and then when they do have to issue a ruling, start dealing with the details. In other words, they are procrastinators like the rest of us. Is that possible?
It wouldn't work like that in the Second Circuit. We circulated bench memos before oral arguments. Katzmann's clerk would've briefed him on the particulars before getting his sign off to send that off to the other judges' chambers, and he would've read the other judges' bench memos. I doubt he's read all the science or the transcripts at this point, but he's read the briefs and the underlying opinion.
 

BillMueller11

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Mar 4, 2016
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I know a guy who used to be a clerk magistrate (now retired) and he told me that much of the time he knew nothing of the case until he was handed the file just before it started. He wasn't a judge, of course, but he said that was typical of judges as well. Now, this guy is like 85 now, so we're talking many years ago. And I don't know what kind of judges he was talking about. It made sense to me, though, as it jibed with how Judge Judy acts on TV.

So my question is whether judges at this level come into a case knowing only a little bit, then asking questions to get more information, and then when they do have to issue a ruling, start dealing with the details. In other words, they are procrastinators like the rest of us. Is that possible?
I clerked for a judge in the 7th Circuit in the late 90's. For a simple case (say a run of the mill search and seizure case or something based on the federal sentencing guidelines) my judge would just read the bench memo we drafted and go from there. Very little prep beforehand and if he wasn't writing the decision--very little work afterward either.

However, for a high profile case (and the Brady - NFL case is pretty darn high profile) he would have read lots of stuff beforehand on his own and would have had his own questions drafted up. He also would have discussed the case extensively with whatever clerk was working that case.

And to the person asking if judges ever asked questions just to F with attorneys, the answer is yes. Not many, but there are some who just love to play bully with a robe and their questions having nothing to do with how they might rule. I always figured these were people who liked to pull the wings off a fly or torture frogs when they were kids just because they could.

But I have no idea if the judge in the Brady case is like that.
 

djbayko

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The Wells Report doesn't contain compelling evidence of tampering. The Wells Report doesn't even make the claim that its evidence is compelling.
Unfortunately, it's all in the eye of the beholder, and it was compelling enough for a former Princeton physics department head and the NFL arbiter, who is the finder of fact in this case.

I hate it too.

 

dhappy42

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Unfortunately, it's all in the eye of the beholder, and it was compelling enough for a former Princeton physics department head and the NFL arbiter, who is the finder of fact in this case.

I hate it too.

That's just another example of Goodell lying. He presents Professor Marlow as an independent scientist called to testify on the quality of Exponent's scientific analysis. Marlow isn't independent at all. Marlow was hired by Wells and contributed to the report. So, in effect, Professor Marlow reviewed Professor Marlow's analysis and conformed Professor Marlow's conclusions.

Marlow's conflict-of-interest is on the record. He's credited by name in the Wells Report. “Scientific consultants were engaged to assist the investigative team. These consultants included a team from Exponent, one of the leading scientific and engineering consulting firms in the country, and Dr. Daniel R. Marlow, a tenured professor of Physics at Princeton University and former Chairman of the Physics Department."

This case is really quite amazing. The NFL presumes the Patriots and Tom Brady guilty, then hires an "independent" investigator to prove it. The investigator cherry-picks data and "suspicious" texts, but the numbers still don't quite work, so the "independent" investigator then hires an "independent" scientific analysis company to cook up a bogus statistical analysis. To confirm that analysis they call an "independent" scientist, one of the guys who contributed to the report to "review" it. It'd be kind of comical if so many people didn't believe this joke of an investigation.
 

djbayko

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Guys, you don't have to prove to me that Deflategate is a scam. I'm not the problem :) This forum is not the problem.

It's compelling to some. Not everyone is equally informed. That's all I'm saying.
 

SoxJox

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Interesting take from Michael Hurley. DeflateGate Judges Didn’t Even Realize NFL Was Lying To Them In Court

Yet let’s not plan the parade route for Roger Goodell to go right down Park Avenue just yet.
For one, Thursday’s reaction was entirely about the judges’ lines of questioning; it had little to do with the arguments actually made by Paul Clement, who was representing the NFL. And while the judges may not have gone after Clement with the same fervor they reserved for Jeffrey Kessler, they did indeed issue a number of probing questions into the basis of Goodell’s arbitration process.
Yet, in the process of explaining to the three-judge panel that Brady proved to not be a credible witness during the investigation and subsequent appeal hearing, Clement restated a lie which Goodell authored himself late last July. And the judges offered no response.
When Goodell issued his ruling to uphold the four-game suspension on July 28, he wrote this on pages 8 and 9:
Mr. Brady testified that he was unable to recall any specifics of discussions [with John Jastremski] and he suggested that their principal subject was the preparation of game balls for the Super Bowl. But the need for such frequent communication beginning on January 19 is difficult to square with the fact that there apparently was no need to communicate by cellphone with Mr. Jastremski or to meet personally with him in the “QB room” during the preceding twenty weeks of the regular season and post-season prior to the AFC Championship Game. … The sharper contrast between the almost complete absence of communications through the AFC Championship Game and the extraordinary volume of communications during the three days following the AFC Championship Game undermines any suggestion that the communications addressed only preparation of footballs for the Super Bowl rather than the tampering allegations and their anticipated responses to inquiries about the tampering.​
And then, in a footnote on page 8:
In response to the question, “Why were you talking to Mr. Jastremski in those two weeks?,” Mr. Brady responded, in sum: “I think most of the conversations centered around breaking in the balls [for the Super Bowl].” For reasons noted, I do not fully credit this testimony.
Clearly, Brady did not tell the NFL that he had no communication with Jastremski about the controversy that was brewing in the media. Brady clearly stated that he discussed the deflated footballs with Jastremski.
Hurley's bottom line:

This may not seem like the single most significant issue in the case, but remember, this is exactly what ended up getting the Ray Rice indefinite suspension overturned. Judge Barbara Jones ruled that despite Goodell’s insistence that Rice was not forthright and honest in his meeting with the commissioner about what took place inside that casino elevator, Rice indeed had been truthful when discussing the incident with Goodell.
 

peritas

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Nov 9, 2015
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The worst part of the current situation from the Pats perspective is the likely impact on the Pats off season. What free agent is going to give the pats a discount to get a chance to go to the Super Bowl given the state of play? Forget about trading our back up QB? The penalty against the Pats is much greater than the picks and likely 4 games for Brady.
 

Myt1

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I haven't seen a transcript, yet, but if Kessler thinks this is a big deal, he can send a Rule 28(j) letter on it. It might not technically track because it's a record cite instead of a supplemental authority, but that's not a huge deal in practice and Clement would probably be badly served to try to split procedural hairs in response.

I've had one sent by opposing counsel correcting an error I made by relying on the District Court's representation of testimony and I responded by conceding that his representation was more accurate (granted, he was citing a supplemental authority for a different point in the letter as well, and I had to respond because he was wrong on that one).

It's really the sort of thing Kessler should have caught in argument, though.
 
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PseuFighter

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Just wondering -- is this getting a lot of play in the Boston media? Seems relative to about this time last year, very little is being mentioned of this, and it looks like this is potentially an even bigger deal (based on the reports that *are* out there). Was talking to my dad this morning up in Boston, and he says coverage of this has been pretty tame; certainly not the wall-to-wall ESPN treatment this got last year.
 

AB in DC

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I haven't seen a transcript, yet, but if Kessler thinks this is a big deal, he can send a Rule 28(j) letter on it.
But to what end? Folks have been hammering the fact that arbitrator error isn't enough to vacate the finding. So it really doesn't have an effect on either the NFL's or NFLPA's arguments.
 

Myt1

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There's a reason there was an "if" in the post.

Regardless of what the legal standard is, if the judges thought it important enough to ask a question about, and Clement thought his facts important enough to offer them, then it's the sort of thing that warrants look. It also feeds into the narrative of a party that can't be bothered to even state facts correctly during oral argument, although that dog hunts less when the lawyer is such a known quantity.

Having gone second, though, assuming that this didn't come up in rebuttal, it also highlights Kessler missing it during his own argument.
 

dhappy42

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But to what end? Folks have been hammering the fact that arbitrator error isn't enough to vacate the finding. So it really doesn't have an effect on either the NFL's or NFLPA's arguments.
Goodell lying about Brady's testimony (and Clement repeating the lie) isn't arbitrator error. It's evidence of arbitrator bias. And fraud.
 

geoduck no quahog

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This is just all so strange to me. I've been to arbitration and the other party lied about some facts and was misleading. We were able to try and correct the record. The arbitrator made a neutral judgment (happened to be in our favor, but that's irrelevant). I just can't imagine a process where the lying party was also the arbitrator. I'm fully aware that the CBA calls for this. I just find it un-American. Fucking Obama.
 

pappymojo

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I wouldn't say that the CBA calls for this. Isn't that probably why it is in the courts right now?
 

pappymojo

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I love the first comment.

Once again the fact that temperature can change PSI in no way proves that the Patriots did not deflate the footballs
Right. Except for proving that the Patriots didn't deflate the balls. Unless the balls were deflated and then were not impacted by the temperature change.
 

Bleedred

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And "once again, just because I don't have pictures of him masturbating at the Washington Monument, does not prove that he hasn't been masturbating at the Washington Monument."
 

Harry Hooper

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A lot of pissing into the wind at this point, but this paragraph highlights something that needed more emphasis:

The League’s lawyers have refused to release the interview notes of the seven League witnesses to halftime gauging. They have also refused to release their communications with Exponent. There is no privilege or confidentiality around any of these communications — they were not attorney-client communications and they were not attorney “work product” (a term used to refer to materials prepared by lawyers in anticipation of litigation). These communications were made as part of what was supposed to be a transparent, independent fact-finding mission — not a mission to prepare for litigation. The NFL’s lawyers’ claim of a “work product” privilege for these interview notes is most curious. Unless there was a prejudgment that the investigation would find violations — the only circumstance that might lead to anticipated future litigation — there would be no reason at the time of the interviews to anticipate any litigation. In all events, the League has the right to waive any claims of privilege, and yet has held tight to this critical information.
 

edmunddantes

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And they missed the best part of McNally wasn't furtive in leaving at beginning of the game.

They let the guy walk out at halftime all alone again after they "knew" someone had tampered with the balls.

Come on Wells Report in Context. Get back on your game. ;-)
 

Harry Hooper

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And they missed the best part of McNally wasn't furtive in leaving at beginning of the game.

They let the guy walk out at halftime all alone again after they "knew" someone had tampered with the balls.

Come on Wells Report in Context. Get back on your game. ;-)

True, but they did get into the mysterious number of footballs in the Pats ballbag at halftime.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Sadly I think it's a forgone conclusion that Brady serves 4 games for a ridiculous witch hunt suspension. I'm sure that once this is over the NFL will get right on that HGH investigation too.
 

JokersWildJIMED

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We shall see but this is far from a foregone conclusion even if the NFL prevails in Appeals...there has been much rumbling that even in that circumstance Brady would likely face either no suspension or a vastly reduced suspension.
 

Hoya81

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There has? I must have missed that do you have any links?
From this weeks MMQB:

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/03/06/peyton-manning-retirement-tom-brady-nfl

Assuming the NFL is successful, however, I am not convinced the league will enforce Brady’s four-game suspension and, at the least, think they will be open to compromise. Remember, the NFL could have asked for a stay of Judge Berman’s order in September to keep Brady from playing, yet chose not to. I claim no inside knowledge of the NFL’s intentions, but this appeal has long since moved past punishing Tom Brady. The NFL has been intent on protecting commissioner power and preventing players (and lawyers) from running to court after receiving unfavorable discipline from Goodell. In my view, if the NFL is successful in protecting that precedent, there may be an avenue to common ground with Brady, with perhaps an implicit nod to Robert Kraft in the process.
 

BlackJack

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How could the NFL ask for a stay of Berman's order? Granting a stay that resulted in Brady serving the suspension is a defacto overturning of Berman. King doesn't know what he's talking about.
 

djbayko

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That's crazy talk. Yes, the suit may be much more than Brady and some light footballs now, but the NFL still needs to keep up appearances. Also, the league office has gained way too much goodwill from fans of the rest of the league (and the owners) to back off of the suspension now. If the NFL wins, there will be no negotiating and there will be no reduction...unless Brady is willing to admit guilt, which also isn't happening.

Also, if I remember correctly from our companion legal thread, the league likely didn't request a stay of Berman's decision because they knew it would be denied. The judge would take the irreparable harm of Tom Brady into account - i.e. if Brady won on appeal, he couldn't get those 4 games back.
 

Marciano490

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How could the NFL ask for a stay of Berman's order? Granting a stay that resulted in Brady serving the suspension is a defacto overturning of Berman. King doesn't know what he's talking about.
How could they ask? Because the rules allow them to. The likelihood of it being granted would be low, because of what you note, but they could ask. I think it's Rule 8, but WBV would know better.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Yes, they could ask (yes, FRAP 8), yes, it would be denied by both the district court and the COA, and yes, saying the NFL "chose not to" is basically meaningless because of the preceding.
 

BlackJack

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How could they ask? Because the rules allow them to. The likelihood of it being granted would be low, because of what you note, but they could ask. I think it's Rule 8, but WBV would know better.
Yes, they could ask (yes, FRAP 8), yes, it would be denied by both the district court and the COA, and yes, saying the NFL "chose not to" is basically meaningless because of the preceding.
Which is what I was trying to get at with my 'how could they' comment. Yes technically they could ask for a stay but given the situation it would be so utterly useless that even the NFL wouldn't try it. The larger point being that King doesn't know what he's talking about as this does not suggest any softening on the NFL's stance re: Brady's suspension.
 

E5 Yaz

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The curse strikes again

Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson was arrested in February 2015 for allegedly assaulting a pizza delivery driver during an argument over a parking spot and faced a non-jury trial on a simple assault charge this month to resolve the issue.

It has been resolved and Jackson has been found guilty of simple assault. Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star reports that Jackson turned down a plea deal and will be sentenced on the misdemeanor offense on April 6.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/03/14/dqwell-jackson-found-guilty-of-simple-assault/
 

djbayko

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D'Qwell actually came out in the media and corrected the record, saying he did not notice anything strange about the football he intercepted, which went against the stories leaked by the Colts and/or NFL.

I don't think this is curse related. He just done f-d up :)