Victor Conte Sentenced...

[anabolicrhino]

but at least thsoe reporters who leaked the Balco incident and the athletes invoved who had testimonies under immunity have been supp. indicted, and are supposed to give up their sources or go to jail. You gotta love the irony in that.

The most disturbing fact of this entire Balco case has been the amount of "leaked Grand Jury testimony, that has been used to coerse and intimidate the athletes, who by the very definition of the law are protected from such abuse. The real slap in the face is that a book was written using this same" leaked information" as its major substantive body of evidence, this is a criminal act. Instead of out rage over this obvious circumventing of our legal system the writers of this book are lauded as heroes by the sports press and most notably ESPN. This is a major league spin job by some pretty big players to conclude that a professional athlete who cheats by taking a drug is a more serious legal issue than an out right breach of the entire legal system by profiteering writers-YIKES!!!!

[brk_nemesis]

The most disturbing fact of this entire Balco case has been the amount of "leaked Grand Jury testimony, that has been used to coerse and intimidate the athletes, who by the very definition of the law are protected from such abuse. The real slap in the face is that a book was written using this same" leaked information" as its major substantive body of evidence, this is a criminal act. Instead of out rage over this obvious circumventing of our legal system the writers of this book are lauded as heroes by the sports press and most notably ESPN. This is a major league spin job by some pretty big players to conclude that a professional athlete who cheats by taking a drug is a more serious legal issue than an out right breach of the entire legal system by profiteering writers-YIKES!!!!

agreed. I was thinking the same thing lol. And what made it more hilaroius is that these reporters admitted that they knew they were breaking the law, but did it as the american people deserved the right to know the truth. LOL, last i checked, the same laws that protected free speech and peoples' rights were the same laws that protect a testimony if some one is granted immunity for testifying or aiding authorites. lol, you break one, you basicaly break what all the others stand for. It had nothin to do leting America know the truth,... it had to do with the selfish, ignorent reporters wanting another story so they can get their 2 min of fame, and their paycheck at the end of the week.

[Viator]

And this one definately qualifies. Regarding the reporters who wouldn't reveal their sources, they broke no laws. You don't see judges holding doctors, social workers, or lawyers in contempt for refusing to violate confidentiality do you? The American public should be outraged over this blatant violation of the rights guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment (I think it's the 5th). However the story got minimal coverage for less than a week.

[anabolicrhino]

And this one definately qualifies. Regarding the reporters who wouldn't reveal their sources, they broke no laws. You don't see judges holding doctors, social workers, or lawyers in contempt for refusing to violate confidentiality do you? The American public should be outraged over this blatant violation of the rights guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment (I think it's the 5th). However the story got minimal coverage for less than a week.

The 5th Amendment of the US constitution grants that no person can be forced to testify against themselves in a court of law (no matter how guilty they may be) The 5th Amendment also provides, that a person has the right to refuse to stand witness if, they "believe" that their testimony "might" incriminate them in a criminal case. A civil case can require a person to testify about the case, as long as their testimony does not imply a criminal intent of the witness.

The Grand Jury specifically grants that a witness testimony cannot be used against the witness in "any form of reciprocation" such as, criminal or civil prosecution or any civil or commercial loss due to their testimony. This is called "immunity".

When a witer uses "leaked grand jury testimony" he is usurping the rights of the witness as granted by the jury. The crime was committed by the person(s) who "leaked" the actual testimony. The writer is an "accessory after the fact", which carries the same liabilty of criminal guilt as the actual crime.

The Freedom of Speech defense ends where the Grand Jury(highest civil court in the land) grants immunity. A person specifically, a "public figure" whose image creates revenue cannot be punished by a "percieved incrimination" in a public forum, because that perception can conflict with his "right to persue happiness" by making a financial gain with respect to his name and reputation.

The writers do not have any legal right to withold their source. writers are not granted client confidetiality as doctors and clergy. The writers are "legally" required to explain how they recieved the information, because that information is what constitues the crime. The information then becomes "experienced evidence" in a now criminal case.

The writers are now in position of indictment, they are the most "prosecutable party" in the criminal case. It would be in their best legal(in this case) interest to trade their source for some form of immunity.

The very fact that they used the "illegal information" to make a profit by selling a book as oppsed to releasing it in the general public forum of a newspaper does not help their case.

It is questionable(at best) to create a profit for yourself while creating a loss for someone else by participating in an illegal act.

If I knew the soucre code for WindowsXP; I do not have the legal right to tell the public even though it would be in their best interest to know it.

Freedom of speech does not cover issues of private ownership such as source code and the "marketable reputation" of public figures

[Viator]

Wow Rhino, I'm impressed. Looks like I have a journalism law teacher to ***** out after i'm done posting this. You certainly know your constitutional law. And I knew I was wrong about that 5th ammendment thing. Thanks for clarifying.

[brk_nemesis]

NIce rhino lol, nice to know someone knows and studies the law as much as me,... come by lawrenceville ga sometime, ill buy ya a beer, lol.

[anabolicrhino]

BALCO leaks exposed - Yahoo! Sports

Looks like their will be one less lawyer in the Barroom!!!

[brk_nemesis]

nice find. its good to see the system go both ways every once and a while. Everyone is used to the sterotypical accuse and then process the convicted type of system, so its good to see the system being used to reinforce the rules and regulations that make it up.