Man Arrested In Auburn Tree Poisoning

Harvey Almorn Updyke, Jr. has been arrested for allegedly posioning the large 130 year-old oak tree located in Toomer's Corner on the Auburn campus. He has been charged with first degree criminal mischief, and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, although he would likely serve considerably less time, probably two years or less. Police traced two phone calls claiming credit for the incident to Updyke's house, and he was subsequently arrested.

Based on some of the evidence that the state's attorney will have on Updyke, including him having knowledge of what herbicide was poured into the soil and claiming credit for the attack, my guess is Updyke will attempt to reach a plea bargain with the state in exchange for a much lesser penalty. However, it will be interesting to see how that turns out given that many in the Auburb area are so livid and distrought by the event that there will be considerable local pressure on the state's attorney to get the maximum penalty allowbale for Updyke.

NFL Earns Victory Over NFLPA

In what could be a preclude to a tough and intense negotiating process to develop a new NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, the NFL owners earned a victory by allowing the players' salary to be held in an escrow account should there be a lockout, instead of the players receiving their paychecks. This is a huge blow for many of the lower earning players who rely on these checks to make ends meet and don't have multi-million dollar signing bonuses to fall back on. This could potentially create some division among the players, but NFLPA DeMaurice Smith attemtped to downplay the victory, and expects no negative emotions to result from this decision. Roger Goodell and Smith continue to try to pound out a new agreement, however, it is looking more and more likely that some sort of work stoppage will result.

Clemens Attorney to Stay

Today, Rusty Hardin obtained the appropriate waiver to represent Roger Clemens in his upcoming trial. Generally, attorneys are not allowed to represent individuals if there is a "conflict of interest," meaning the attorney has represented a confictying party is a previous case. This regulation is intended to prevent legal professionals from representing one party and learning confidential information about that party, and later representing another party who has adverse interests to the original party, whereby the attorney can utuilize the information he had obtained on the original party for his new client's advantage. Here, Hardin briefly represented Andy Pettitte several years ago, and Pettitte is expected to be one of the star witnesses in Clemens' upcoming trial. However, as mentioned above, Hardin has obtained the appropriate waivers that will allow him to represent Clemens in his tiral.

LT Pleads Guilty

In a follow up to a previous post, Lawrence Taylor pled guilty today to two misdemeanor charges stemming from arrest in May. In his plea, LT admitted to have sexual relations with a girl who was 16, but claims she told him she was 19. LT will be sentenced to 6 years probation, but must also register as a sex offender. The official sentencing will take place on March 22.

NFLPA to File Collusion Grievance

Reports are surfacing that the NFLPA is on the brink of filing a collusion grievance. Acording to the reports, the NFLPA began working on a collusion case after only one of 216 restrcited free agents were signed to an offer sheet. In the NFL, restricted free agents are allowed to seek offer sheets from other teams, and once one is signed, the player's former team has the option to match the offer and retain the player, or let the player go according to the terms of the offer sheet.

Collusion is where players or clubs act in concert in order to defraud or decieve another party. Here, the NLFPA would argue that the NFL clubs are colluding and agreeing to refuse to provide offer sheets to restricted free agents, in an effort to reduce player salaries. Collusion is usually difficult to prove absent obvious evidence, and could take several years before there is a decision regarding the grievance.

NFL Personal Conduct Policy

I know Ryan will complain that this entry is too long, but deal with it (you know who you are):

With all the discussions about whether Brett Favre will be fined or suspended under the personal conduct policy of the NFL for the alleged pictures, texts, and voicemails he sent, I have received several questions about what exactly is the personal conduct policy and who does it cover. The Personal Conduct Policy as adopted by the NFL is somewhat long and detailed, so I will provide a quick version:

The purpose of the policy is to punish those who engage in violent or criminal behavior detrimental to the integrity of the league. Not only are players under contract covered by the policy, but so are NFL and team employees, drafted but unsigned rookies, and unsigned free agents. Any player charged or accused of such behavior will be required to have a consultation with the commissioner. Any person convicted of a crime or that pleads guilty or nolo contendere is subject to discipline under the policy, which can include a fine, suspension, or banishment from the league. There is also a section in the policy that applies to criminal or threatening activity in the workplace, and violators may be subject to mandatory counseling or even be terminated. The one comical aspect of the policy is that any appeals must go through the commissioner, who would have to overrule himself to reduce a punishment. This seems a little one-sided with no checks and balances, so look for the player’s union to address this issue in the near future.

So the question becomes, how is the alleged Brett Favre incident covered under the policy? Sending inappropriate texts and pictures, while maybe immoral or unethical, is not criminal or violent behavior, so how can Favre be punished? The answer is very simple. Since the commissioner created the policy and is responsible for enforcing it, he can simply apply the policy to whatever he sees fit. This is a very embarrassing incident for the NFL, and you better believe Commissioner Goodell will punish Favre if he believes he has enough evidence that the alleged incidents occurred as reported. Now, if you are thinking “How is the player’s union accepting the commissioner having all of this unilateral power,” they are not, and this will likely be one of the heavily debated topics once the collective bargaining discussions begin.

O.J. Staying in Jail

O.J. Simpson's appeal stemming from his conviction of robbery and kidnapping was denied by the Nevada Supreme Court today. Simpson'a attorneys argued that the racial makeup of the jury and the conduct of the judge were key issues in the case, and the conviction was prejudicial payback for his acquittal involving the 1994 slayings of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson will continue to serve his 9-33 year sentence in Nevada State Prison. Meanwhile, the conviction of Simpson's co-defendant, Clarence Stewart, was reversed, and he will face a new trial.