Court slaps Lance Armstrong's attorney as being full of hot air over anti-doping lawsuit attempt

Wednesday, July 18, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: Lance Armstrong, doping, lawsuit

(NaturalNews) A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit recently filed by professional triathlete and Tour de France hero Lance Armstrong against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the Olympic group currently in hot pursuit of Armstrong for illegally "doping." According to U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, Armstrong's legal filing was too long, too wordy, and ultimately failed to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Armstrong's filing against USADA is a direct response to USADA's recent filing against him, which alleges that Armstrong participated in a "long running doping conspiracy" that lasted nearly a decade. Armstrong vehemently denies the claims, but USADA claims it has credible evidence showing that Armstrong broke the rules, which could result in the loss of his seven Tour de France titles. (http://www.naturalnews.com)

But because Armstrong's lawyers decided to craft a counter-suit filled with dozens of pages of rants and accusations that have little or nothing to do with Armstrong's actual claims against USADA, Judge Sparks wholly dismissed it. Armstrong now has the option to refile a more condensed, focused version of the suit within 20 days, go to arbitration, or accept sanctions from USADA, according to Courthouse News Service (CNS).

"Armstrong's complaint is far from short, spanning 80 pages and containing 261 numbered paragraphs, many of which have multiple sub-parts," wrote Judge Sparks in his dismissal order. "Worse, the bulk of these paragraphs contain 'allegations' that are wholly irrelevant to Armstrong's claims and which, the Court must presume, were included solely to increase media coverage of this case, and to incite public opinion against defendants."

"This Court is not inclined to indulge Armstrong's desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement, or vilification of defendants, by sifting through 80 mostly unnecessary pages in search of the few kernels of factual material relevant to his claims."

You can read Judge Sparks' full dismissal of Armstrong's case here:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/07/10/LanceDismissed.pdf

Armstrong continues to deny that he ever used any illegal, performance-enhancing drugs during the time when he won his Tour de France titles. But his accusers are not convinced, as many of Armstrong's former competitors and teammates (http://www.abc.net.au) have since admitted that they themselves engaged in illegal "doping" during the same time period, and that Armstrong participated, too.

"[Armstrong] took what we all took ... the majority of the peloton," said Tyler Hamilton, a former teammate of Armstrong, to 60 Minutes back in 2011. "I saw [EPO] in his refrigerator ... I saw him inject it more than one time like we all did, like I did many, many times. There was EPO ... testosterone ... a blood transfusion." (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hamilton-says-he-saw-armstrong-use-epo)

Sources for this article include:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/07/10/48220.htm