Hue - Impressions From the Hearing Room
McLaren and Brunet chat and come into the hearing together or come in separate and immediately begin to converse. Campbell always comes in alone and the other two don't talk to him at all, although McLaren asked Campbell for a highlighter pen and some sticky pads today. They do this in the open and appearance of isolating one of the arbitrators doesn't seem to bother them. I've been on a 3 person Panel. If my collegues ignored me like that, I'd be saddened. Some may say Campbell isolates himself but that IS NOT my impression and believe me, I'm here and I'm looking and watching carefully.
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For all you guys who think the "hacked" LNDD documents were created by Landis' team, they are part of discovery sent to Landis by USADA and have been authenticated for use at trial. So much for the "reverse conspiracy theory". They are genuine.
Everyone in the case seems to have a bottled water all the time. The Panel have 2 each and there is at least two cases in the hearing room and a case in the Press room. The bottled water is Arrowhead and it is provided by the USOC. Perhaps fearing contamination or tainting, USADA officials and lawyers are not drinking the Arrowhead. They are drinking Aquafina. Larry Bowers drinks Coke (which owns Aquafina). Perhaps that is some sort of sponsorship issue.
Maurice Suh is an extreemly good trial lawyer. While he may not always have a perfect grasp of the application of some of the most technical scientific terminology (disturbing the wonks a little), he knows the science and he is a lawyer who isn't pretending to be a scientist. Howard Jacobs combines the science and the law a little better than Suh. I am impressed by his skill in that regard.
Richard Young is sort of frumpy in a Walter Matthau way. He strikes me as being an insurance defense type of lawyer. They don't care about the fit of their suit or the way their hair is cut as much as they delve deeply into the nuances of the case and the advocacy of that position. They get paid by the hour and not necessarily to win the case. Sometimes they are paid by the hour to minimize damages.
Todays cross of Brenna by Suh is some of the best lawyering I have ever seen. Both subtle and blunt, the examination revealed the intentional erasure of data multiple times, the people behind the erasure and USADA's role in trying to prevent Landis from knowledge of logs which would reveal those erasures and thus highly relevant aspects of the case. Rarely do you see a cross which is surgically as precise at that one was.
7 comments:
Bill,
I was intrigued by Suh's cross. I thought it was masterful. He also got Brenna to basically look like a stooge for being unwilling to state that .8 uncertainty should be on top of the -3 delta unit. He stated that and then when he realized it was counter to USADA's position, he was unwilling to admit what he thought. I think not being able to depose witnesses may have been helpful to Landis in this case. Had he (Brenna) been aware this would be part of the questioning, he may have thought of a better way to position himself in regard to this matter. I thought he looked like someone trying to avoid answering the question after he already answered it. What was your impression on this point?
Cal
Interesting observation. Realistically speaking, how "open" are the arbitrators to the hearings?
The cynic in me says that they already made their decision long before this hearing started.
Those of us without connection are dying to know, are the French chicks hot?
Cal,
Good observation. USADA seems to be using a number of witnesses who do not have experience testifying - probably due to the scientific niche involved - and the high power (expensive) attorney brought in by USADA does not seem to have prepared them well.
Good points are being made, but there are at least two problems. One is how open the majority of the panel is to them. The second is whether or not they are going to consult their "independent expert" on the points being made by Landis' team.
pcrosby
Bill,
Just to be ‘accurate’ Aquafina is bottled and distributed by Pepsi. (I’m in advertising and I have worked on the brand) Dasani is bottled and distributed by Coke.
HOWEVER Lance Armstrong was sponsored by Dasani for awhile! It makes you wonder. (Not really)
Joe
Hey PC, I don't understand how the panel's expert can be considered "independent" when he comes from a WADA lab. That is so ridiculous! By WADA rule, he's not even allowed to say or do anything that could help Landis.
Joe,Thanks for the correction on the water issue. We are literally flying by the seat of our pants here and appreciate the help.
anon 1:06
The French chicks are marginally hot but I'm 50 and everything looks good to me.
Cal,
You are right on point with your obsevations.
Bill
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