Posts: 28,652
Threads: 4,420
Joined: May 2004
Reputation:
0
Commissioner Roger Goodell has ordered Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons not to report to the teamâs training camp pending the completion of an NFL review of his recent indictment by a federal grand jury in Richmond, Virginia, for allegedly participating in an interstate dog-fighting enterprise.
Commissioner Goodell informed Vick that the review would be completed as soon as possible and that Vickâs full cooperation is expected.
In a letter to Vick today, Commissioner Goodell said: âWhile it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy.â
Vick will not forfeit his preseason pay during his excused absence from training camp.
Commissioner Goodell also directed the Falcons today to withhold any contemplated team discipline regarding the Vick matter until the NFL review is completed.
Posts: 28,652
Threads: 4,420
Joined: May 2004
Reputation:
0
Says the NFL's official release on the matter: "Commissioner Goodell informed Vick that the review would be completed as soon as possible and that Vick’s full cooperation is expected."
Key words: "Vick's full cooperation is expected."
As a practical matter, Vick's full cooperation is unlikely.
We can see it now. Vick and lawyer Billy Martin travel to New York to be grilled by the Commish and one or more of the blue suits from Covington & Burling. With each question posed to Vick in an effort to determine whether he knew about or was involved in the barbaric activities that unfolded on his property, Martin will likely tell Vick not to answer, given that federal conspiracy charges are still pending.
Of course, if Vick answers the questions, then whoever it is from the league offices who hears what he says, and makes contemporaneous notes of it or (even better) records the audio or the video of Vick saying it will be subpoenaed to testify at the criminal trial. As we've previously noted, anything that Vick says can be used against him at trial. Though he's not required to testify at trial by virtue of the Fifth Amendment, no such protection applies to the investigation that his employer is conducting.
So his choices are simple -- talk to the NFL and risk giving the prosecutors more ammunition to use against him, or refuse to talk to the NFL and invite a suspension for failure to cooperate.
It's a great move by the NFL. It provides the Commish will independent grounds to act against Vick if he doesn't talk, and it aids the overall truth-seeking process if he does.
Our guess? Vick won't talk, even though the end result could be that the Falcons will have the ability to pursue more than $28 million in bonus money that already has been paid to him. Securing an acquittal is far more important that protecting the money, and talking to anyone about the situation will serve only to impair Vick's chances of beating this rap.
Posts: 32,452
Threads: 5
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
I love how he's still getting paid.
I can't imagine how Atlanta could deal with all the protesters that would show up if he was allowed to play.It would just be an ugly scene for the NFL.
Emmit Smith thinks he's being unfairly targeted.So was Nate Newton.
Over under on how many games vick plays the rest of his career-24
He'll go to prison for two or three years and will have to serve some type of suspension from the NFL when he gets out.
He'll never play for the Falcons again.
See You In Toledo
Posts: 13,679
Threads: 549
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
he's not done for '07 yet...
Posts: 28,652
Threads: 4,420
Joined: May 2004
Reputation:
0
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Surry County Prosecutor Gerald Poindexter says he will not seek an indictment of Michael Vick when a grand jury meets tomorrow. But that doesn't mean what some broadcast outlets think it means.
The AJC story has been repeated by television reporters who seem to misunderstand the report. Just because Poindexter won't seek an indictment tomorrow does not mean Vick won't eventually face state charges of animal cruelty, dog fighting or anything else. It just means that the indictment won't come tomorrow.
Poindexter said last week that he planned to use evidence gathered by federal investigators to bring an indictment against Vick, so a local prosecution would only come after federal authorities have shared their evidence with the local authorities.
As we've mentioned here before, Poindexter might be forced to wait until the federal prosecution is concluded before acting against Vick. So nothing definitive is likely to come out of Poindexter's office any time soon.
Posts: 28,652
Threads: 4,420
Joined: May 2004
Reputation:
0
INSIGHTS FROM A FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR
Since the federal prosecutors handling the Vick case won't be conducting many (or any) Poindexter-style press briefings, the closest thing we'll ever get to the thought processes of the federal prosecutors in this case will be via the insights of a former federal prosecutor.
Attorney Marc Garber of The Garber Law Firm, with offices in Atlanta and Marietta, Georgia, worked for eight years as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey and Nevada. He agreed to provide on-the-record observations regarding the Vick case, based on Garber's experiences working up and trying federal criminal cases on behalf of the United States of America.
As an initial matter, Garber believes that the mere existence of an indictment is the product of extensive work by prosecutors to marshal evidence that puts Vick in the places where they allege that he was, doing the things he allegedly did. That evidence, Garber believes, goes beyond the four unnamed cooperating witnesses mentioned in the indictment.
"If I had Vick's case," he said, "the testimony of four cooperators would be enough to prompt a search, but not an indictment. To pull the trigger on an indictment, I'd need documentary evidence that corroborates what the cooperators said.
"I'd start with Vick's credit-card bills to see where he's buying things and when. I'd check airline tickets or other evidence of travel to see when he was in Virginia. I'd check cell phone information. I'd check emails. Whatever kind of documented communication or evidence of travel or location you can imagine, that's what I'd want.
"There's no way, if you're a federal prosecutor, you pull the trigger on this case without [extensive] documents that let you plot out a time-line -- in multiple colors on a huge board that sits in front of the jury as you bury Vick witness by witness and document by document -- putting him at the dog fights on his property."
It all makes a lot of sense. As we've previously explained, the feds aren't in this case to win an indictment and then lose a trial. They took on this fight because prosecutors believe that they have the proof to secure a conviction.
Interestingly, Garber thinks that the prosecution ultimately will focus less on the dog fighting and more on the gambling.
"This case is not so much about animal abuse, though that's the hook that gets the jury impassioned," Garber said. "This case from the Justice Department's perspective is about an illegal-gambling ring which, though the NFL remains silent on this point, is why Vick should be staring at an instant suspension."
(This post was last modified: 07-24-2007, 04:48 PM by
Anhil8tor.)
Posts: 13,679
Threads: 549
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
this thread title it misleading and inappropriate.
Posts: 4,613
Threads: 258
Joined: Nov 2004
Reputation:
0
not to mention this entire thread is very hurtful
Posts: 9,895
Threads: 2,289
Joined: May 2004
Reputation:
0
what? Wrote:not to mention this entire thread is very hurtful
Really you don't think so?
Who said I had to make sense ?
Posts: 13,679
Threads: 549
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
Sassy would have got the headline right...
Posts: 13,679
Threads: 549
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
I agree that he won't play this year.
But when you post a headline type thread that reads "Vick done for 2007," you expect some official statement from the NFL or the courts. I thought 8 was breaking some news here, perhaps that was my mistake.
Posts: 13,679
Threads: 549
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
I'll let you know when I see ESPN cite "common sense" as a source for a major news story.
Posts: 32,452
Threads: 5
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
Let me know when this place can be compared to ESPN.
See You In Toledo
Posts: 4,613
Threads: 258
Joined: Nov 2004
Reputation:
0
can we just change the title to "vick likely fucked" or something like that?
Posts: 32,452
Threads: 5
Joined: Jun 2004
Reputation:
0
How bout "Atlanta football on hiatus for the next 5 years"?
See You In Toledo
![[Image: boston.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/FattyJ16/boston.jpg)
