Archive for October 25th, 2018

Update from the shoe beat.

Thursday, October 25th, 2018

We have our first convictions in the great NCAA Basketball shoe scandal of 2017. (Previously.)

James Gatto, Adidas’s former head of global basketball marketing; Merl Code Jr., another former Adidas employee; and an aspiring agent named Christian Dawkins were found guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, after a three-week trial.

There’s a little more editorial commentary mixed in with the reporting than I’d like, but this is noteworthy:

Though the verdicts’ larger impact on college basketball was not immediately clear, after Wednesday the following may be safely said: There is precedent that cheating N.C.A.A. bylaws can have consequences beyond collegiate infractions.
“Now you don’t just have to worry about what the N.C.A.A. does to you — you have to worry about going to jail,” said Dan Beebe, a former Big 12 commissioner who consults with conferences.

Personally, I’d like to see the N.C.A.A forcibly disbanded, but sending people to prison is a good alternative.

Also worth noting, but with a grain of salt: one of the defense attorneys claims that Rick Pitino and Bill Self (Kansas basketball coach, who is still employed) knew what was going on.

Neither head coach was clearly implicated in witness testimony, although text messages and phone calls suggested they were aware that Adidas associates were involved in recruiting.

…

The three men charged in the case had pleaded not guilty, and none of them took the stand. Their primary defense was that their behavior may have violated N.C.A.A. bylaws, but that it was not a federal crime.
“N.C.A.A. rules were broken,” Michael Schachter, one of Gatto’s attorneys, said in his opening argument. “Jim and Adidas helped out financially a few families whose sons are among the most talented athletes in America. That happened.”
However, he added: “The N.C.A.A.’s rules are not the laws of this country. The N.C.A.A. is not the U.S. Congress.”

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As the flaming hyena turns.

Thursday, October 25th, 2018

Remember Dawnna Dukes? Remember what an enormous nothing-burger that whole thing turned out to be?

She’s suing the Statesman, Margaret Moore (the current Travis County DA) and Rosemary Lehmberg (the previous DA), “an investigator with the state auditor’s office”, and three former aides.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday by Dukes on her own behalf and without a lawyer, seeks $7.8 million for malicious prosecution and defamation.

The fact that she’s proceeding pro se with a defamation suit is not a good sign. But I Am Not A Lawyer: I’d ask Ken White for his take, but he’s pretty busy these days.

On the other hand, she’s probably proceeding without a lawyer because she’s broke:

The 12-term Austin Democrat said investigative stories by the Statesman, followed by corruption charges that were eventually dismissed, left her financially ruined — saddled with a $187,000 legal bill, deprived of consulting contracts and unable to find additional work.
As a result, her lawsuit said, Dukes’ credit cards were canceled, her car was repossessed and her home and East Austin commercial properties were foreclosed upon.
“The trauma due to financial hardships and loss of reputation aggravated (Dukes’) health issues and, to this day, there is still a lingering inconsolable grief caused by her substantial loss,” the lawsuit said.
Dukes also blamed her legal trouble for her defeat in the Democratic primary in March.

I’ll try to keep an eye on this one. Especially the discovery portion of it: that should be a lot of fun.

Posted in Austin, IANAL, Law, Media, Politics, Texas | Comments Closed