The steroids scandal could bust wide open if that Judge rules to release those names. Anyone have any guesses of who's on that list?
Judge Says He Will Rule Today on Request for Players’ Names
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: July 27, 2007
PHOENIX, July 26 — The federal judge presiding over a lawsuit filed by The Associated Press, in which it argued the public has the right to know the names of major league baseball players implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs in government documents, said he would rule Friday whether to reveal the names.
Edward C. Voss, the judge in the case, made his statements Thursday at a federal court here after he heard arguments in the suit. The case involves Jason Grimsley, a former major league reliever, who gave a federal agent the names of baseball players he said had used performance-enhancing drugs.
A search warrant that was issued for Grimsley’s home in Arizona and was made public last June, blacked out the names of the players Grimsley had implicated.
In October, The Los Angeles Times reported that Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and three other players were named in the affidavit. The United States attorney for the Northern District of California at the time, Kevin V. Ryan, said the report contained “significant inaccuracies.”
In making the case for the judge to unseal the names, Peter S. Kozinets, a lawyer for The Associated Press, said that throughout the government’s five-year investigation of the use of performing-enhancing drugs, users have not been prosecuted.
The public, he said, has the right to know that the investigation has been conducted fairly, and that professional athletes were not receiving special treatment.
Matthew Parella, an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of California, argued that the names should be protected because the government has an “ongoing investigation,” which involves, “complex parts, stretches over a lot of geography, groups and interlocks.”
Ethan Balogh, a lawyer for the players association, said the public had received everything it was entitled to and if the names were released, it would “not resolve anything” and would only serve as sensationalism.
Voss, who acknowledged that he had received a sealed affidavit from the government that outlined the status and reach of the investigation, asked Kozinets how revealing the names would benefit the public.
Kozinets said it would help the public gauge how the investigation was progressing, and would clear up suspicion around players who played with Grimsley or were named in the Los Angeles Times story.
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: July 27, 2007
PHOENIX, July 26 — The federal judge presiding over a lawsuit filed by The Associated Press, in which it argued the public has the right to know the names of major league baseball players implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs in government documents, said he would rule Friday whether to reveal the names.
Edward C. Voss, the judge in the case, made his statements Thursday at a federal court here after he heard arguments in the suit. The case involves Jason Grimsley, a former major league reliever, who gave a federal agent the names of baseball players he said had used performance-enhancing drugs.
A search warrant that was issued for Grimsley’s home in Arizona and was made public last June, blacked out the names of the players Grimsley had implicated.
In October, The Los Angeles Times reported that Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and three other players were named in the affidavit. The United States attorney for the Northern District of California at the time, Kevin V. Ryan, said the report contained “significant inaccuracies.”
In making the case for the judge to unseal the names, Peter S. Kozinets, a lawyer for The Associated Press, said that throughout the government’s five-year investigation of the use of performing-enhancing drugs, users have not been prosecuted.
The public, he said, has the right to know that the investigation has been conducted fairly, and that professional athletes were not receiving special treatment.
Matthew Parella, an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of California, argued that the names should be protected because the government has an “ongoing investigation,” which involves, “complex parts, stretches over a lot of geography, groups and interlocks.”
Ethan Balogh, a lawyer for the players association, said the public had received everything it was entitled to and if the names were released, it would “not resolve anything” and would only serve as sensationalism.
Voss, who acknowledged that he had received a sealed affidavit from the government that outlined the status and reach of the investigation, asked Kozinets how revealing the names would benefit the public.
Kozinets said it would help the public gauge how the investigation was progressing, and would clear up suspicion around players who played with Grimsley or were named in the Los Angeles Times story.
