A Picture Is Worth 400-600 Words

Anybody that was alive during the early and mid nineties has heard of the O.J. Simpson case.  Your classic example of an ex-football player who allegedly killed his wife, Nicole, then ran from the cops in a white Ford Bronco on national television.  Pretty normal…not.  Obviously the man had something to hide.  Later on O.J. would go on the be found not guilty after a long, nationally popular trial.  Honestly, how could somebody with all of the evidence pointing towards him be found not guilty?

Some of the evidence was…

Blood matching Nicole’s was found on his car door and passenger seat cover

Matching footprints were found at the crime scene, and the same bloody print was found in the Bronco

O.J. had a history and reputation of beating his wife

This is just some of the evidence that was found in regards to the O.J. Simpson case.  Some may believe that it is enough to convict him of murder; for crying out loud the man had HER blood in and on HIS car!  How the jury let him off is beyond any rational mind.  Several years later, O.J. wrote a book titled, “If I Did It.”  Obviously after the trial, according to the fifth amendment, there is no double jeopardy, meaning a person can not be charged the same crime twice.  His book did however raise some eyebrows.

First off, after a man has been found innocent after his wife dies and he was the one accused of killing her, he does not write a book about how he would have killed her if he did.  That is just not kosher.  The whole book may have been a publicity stunt, and an attempt for O.J. to make money, but in writing the book, he showed that he has no remource and feels nothing in regards to the murder of his wife.  If you look closely at the picture, you will see eyes black as coal, and a little smirk on Simpson’s face.  This is a picture taked during the trial that was eventually turned into the cover of his book, and if he looked that calm and unaffected by the murder of his wife during the trial, it is hard to believe that the man was and still is innocent of the crime.  With the evidence that was found, the fact the Simpson wrote a book about the how he would have murdered his wife had he done it, and the smug expression on his face, there is no reason that anybode should believe O.J. is innocent.  Granted he was found to be innocent by the courts, that does not man that he is indeed an innocent man…EVERYBODY makes mistakes.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/shared-blogs/palmbeach/swan/OJ_If_I_Did_It.jpg This is the site of the Book Cover.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/Evidence.html  This is the site with the evidence from the case.

 

 

 

HELP!!!

Help.  Today help has such a broad meaning.  Usually help means that you assist someone so that they can succeed.  In relation to sports law, the concept of help has gone astrew.

O.J. needed help hiding evidence and seeming innocent, Michael Vick needed help covering up the dog fighting, and countless major league baseball players have needed help in proving that they do not do steroids.  Sure this”help” will get them off of the hook, and prove them not guilty, but in the long run is it really helping them? 

When you were young, there were so many things that your parents could have made easier by helping you or guiding you through, but then you would not learn anything.  Their help would have made it so you needed help every time you perform that act.  Sometimes learning things the hard way is more help than learning things the easy way.

So when lawyers help their clients, and the judges let the professional atheletes or teams off of the hook because their lawyers “helped” them, it is taking the easy way out.  No lesson is learned, and no help was provided.

Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace were two NBA stars for the Portland Trailblazers…and they were indeed blazers.  On a road trip they got caught with marijuana stored in tin foil as they went through a metal detector at the airport.  After the incident, and a few weeks in court, all that happened was a suspension for a couple of games; no fine, no misdemeanor, just a slap on the hand.  After the season the same thing happened again.  Rasheed was caught driving under the influence of alcohol, and he was also in possession of marijuana.  This time Rasheed got a DUI.  The first time there was no lesson learned because there were virtually no consequences, nothing to teach Rasheed a lesson.  He figured he has untouchable, and the law did not apply to him.  Coincidentally, Rasheed has never been found in possession of marijuana or driving under the influence of alcohol since his run in with the law.  Maybe, just maybe, if there was a punishment the first time, he would not have done it again.

People thought that they were helping Stoudamire and Wallace by letting them off, but all it really did was feed their habit and poor behavior.  This is too prevalent in sports; the athletes get “help”, and never suffer the consequences that they deserve.

Next time an athlete gets in trouble, we should all consider what we think HELP means.

Blog Mission Statement

It seems like every day you hear about a new legal issue revolving around an athlete or a sports team.   The purpose for me writing this blog is to dissect some of these more popular issues, give some solid examples of how to analyze the cases, and come up with a verdict.

My life revolves around sports, and I feel like I can benefit from learning and writing on these issues.  Athletes are role models to kids everywhere, and by writing these blogs, I hope to gain some popularity, and hopefully the athletes will read them, and question what they do in the future.  Like it or not, athletes and sports teams are looked up to, and they need to carry themselves in a manner that reflects high moral standards.  This is why I am writing this blog.  I also want to let people know all of the facts about specific examples; too many times have I heard casual conversations about some of the cases that I will discuss, and they never have all of the facts.  It seems like people jump on the band-wagon, and say what they hear on the news.  Hopefully my blog can better inform people, with a view that has no bias, and provides only the truth.

One thing that my blog will always offer that you will struggle to find elsewhere is honesty, and a view without bias.  All of my cases are going to relate to law as well as sports, and I promise that I will not complain or give an opinion without relevant facts to support it.

I look forward to having many dedicated readers, and will do my best to keep your interest while being a straight-shooter.