Austin Federal Court Judge Sam Sparks met with Armstrong’s lawyers and the USADA on Friday. Lance’s lawyers claim the USADA has overstepped its authority when they charged him as running a conspiracy of doping. The USADA wants the judge to dismiss Armstrong’s suit because he was supposed to have accepted all their terms when he signed up as a competitive cyclist. Judge Sparks is waiting for both sides to file additional documents this week.
The judge asked difficult questions of the USADA, including questions about their fairness towards Armstrong. He said their charges against Lance were vague and didn’t give him enough information to be able to defend himself. They appear to have drawn conclusions but didn’t present much evidence. He also questioned the ability of Armstrong to be able to get a fair hearing with them. Armstrong has filed a motion to block the USADA, questioning their lack of fair process. “I couldn’t find anything but conclusions (in the charges),” Sparks said. “Not one name, not one event, not one date.”
Sparks was not pleased with the USADA’s withholding key information, including who the witnesses are and what they said. “No case filed in this court or any court in the United States would go to trial” under similar circumstances, Sparks said.
USADA claims it’s withholding the names because of fear of intimidation. They also think they should be able to do what they want and not have to go to a court outside sports.
There are some confusing and overlapping domains between USADA, UCI, IOC and WADA and it’s not totally clear who has the ultimate say and everyone seems to want to preempt each other.
