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Ryan Braun wins Appeal! (1 Viewer)

Ryan Braun wins appeal of positive drug test

e-mail print By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel

Updated: 4:10 p.m. |(4) Comments

Phoenix - Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder Ryan Braun became the first major-league player to have a positive drug test overturned when he was informed Thursday that an arbitration panel ruled in his favor on appeal and decided against a 50-game suspension for the reigning National League most valuable player.

There has been no official announcement of the verdict but the Journal Sentinel has confirmed that Braun won his appeal.

Someone familiar with the decision said the appeal went Braun's way not so much on contesting the result of the test but the testing process itself, some kind of technicality. And it was arbitrator Shyam Das who decided to rule in favor on that technicality, making it a 2-1 decision by the three-man panel.

Whatever the reason, the ruling was a tremendous boost for both Braun, whose reputation was at stake, and the Brewers, already missing free agent Prince Fielder from their 2011 NL Central championship club. Instead of having to figure out a way to replace Braun for the first 50 games of the season, the team can move forward with its original plans.

Braun is expected to report to the Brewers' camp Friday on schedule, and now will not have the cloud of a suspension hanging over his head. It had become a point of noticeable nervousness and anxiety among other players and staff as well as they awaited what many feared would be a negative outcome.

Braun appealed the positive test that took place in early October, at the outset of the playoffs. His hearing before a three-man arbitration panel was held in New York on Jan. 19-20, when noted attorney David Cornwell presented his case against the test result and suspension.

The three-man panel included Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Michael Weiner, MLB vice president for labor relations Rob Manfred and independent arbitrator Shyam Das. The history of such hearings suggested Weiner would back the player and Manfred would support the testing procedure, leaving Das to cast the decisive vote.

The MLB drug policy calls for a maximum of 25 days for the panel to render its verdict but that is considered more of a guideline than a rigid deadline. Accordingly, the panel took much longer to announce its decision. Thursday marked five weeks since the appeal hearing began.

There had been speculation that the delay was because Braun already had been told he won the case and his side hadn't announced it. The commissioner's office wouldn't announce the player had won the appeal because the process is supposed to be confidential. But a source familiar with the decision said Braun was not informed until Thursday.

An MLB source familiar with the history of game’s drug testing said none of the previous 12 major leaguers who appealed a positive result were able to overturn a suspension. Thus, even though successful appeals are not announced because of confidentiality, someone familiar with the process said Braun was the first major-leaguer to win an appeal.

Originally, players were suspended for 10 days but that penalty was stiffened to 50 games in 2006, with pay forfeited.

The burden of proof rests squarely on the player in such hearings because he must prove the banned substance was not in his system by his fault or through negligence. The MLB drug policy has a “strict liability” provision in which players are not exonerated merely because they ingested a banned substance unknowingly.

Braun’s positive test reportedly included “insanely high levels” of testosterone, by far the most ever detected in a player. He requested an independent drug test a few weeks after testing positive, which was clean, but it was not authorized nor recognized as exculpatory by MLB.

After ESPN reported Braun’s positive test, he immediately proclaimed his innocence, sending this test message to the Journal Sentinel: “I am completely innocent. This is B.S.”

 
Now, not to stir up the pot, but all you who railed on Braun need to come clean. Us loyal Brewer fans welcome your apology.

I'm waiting... :)

 
Now, not to stir up the pot, but all you who railed on Braun need to come clean. Us loyal Brewer fans welcome your apology.I'm waiting... :)
You're guy gets off on a technicality and you want an apology? This place has me really confused. Universal condemnation of PED use by athletes, years of debate as to what to do, then when a guy uses them and beats the system it's a doggone block party in here. Put me down as a fan who sees this as a dark day. You either want a clean game or you dont.
 
Now, not to stir up the pot, but all you who railed on Braun need to come clean. Us loyal Brewer fans welcome your apology.I'm waiting... :)
You're guy gets off on a technicality and you want an apology? This place has me really confused. Universal condemnation of PED use by athletes, years of debate as to what to do, then when a guy uses them and beats the system it's a doggone block party in here. Put me down as a fan who sees this as a dark day. You either want a clean game or you dont.
Insanely high levels of testosterone doesn't strike you as odd? Really? That there could absolutely be nothing wrong with the test itself despite the screaming red flags everywhere? It was fishy from the start so how can you give it any credibility?
 
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So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.

 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
I got this from another poster who said this quite well:

Hardly a "technicality" anymore than a criminal defense attorney whose client never should have been pulled over in the first instance because there was a lack of probable cause to do so. A failure to handle human urine in accordance with the requirements of the policies and procedures set forth in the agreement between players and the league is not a mere "technicality" and goes to the very heart and integrity of the process. If the sample is not tested within a certain period of leaving the human body, the results necessarily become tainted and subject to both criticism and quite frankly, simply being ignored, as they should have been in the first place. Now let's get on to the little "technicality" about Braun's RIGHTS having been intentionally violated by both the leakers and, frankly, ESPN whose ethics in this matter bear rigorous examination.

 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
I got this from another poster who said this quite well:

Hardly a "technicality" anymore than a criminal defense attorney whose client never should have been pulled over in the first instance because there was a lack of probable cause to do so. A failure to handle human urine in accordance with the requirements of the policies and procedures set forth in the agreement between players and the league is not a mere "technicality" and goes to the very heart and integrity of the process. If the sample is not tested within a certain period of leaving the human body, the results necessarily become tainted and subject to both criticism and quite frankly, simply being ignored, as they should have been in the first place. Now let's get on to the little "technicality" about Braun's RIGHTS having been intentionally violated by both the leakers and, frankly, ESPN whose ethics in this matter bear rigorous examination.
I am an attorney, and that is a horrible analogy.
 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
I got this from another poster who said this quite well:

Hardly a "technicality" anymore than a criminal defense attorney whose client never should have been pulled over in the first instance because there was a lack of probable cause to do so. A failure to handle human urine in accordance with the requirements of the policies and procedures set forth in the agreement between players and the league is not a mere "technicality" and goes to the very heart and integrity of the process. If the sample is not tested within a certain period of leaving the human body, the results necessarily become tainted and subject to both criticism and quite frankly, simply being ignored, as they should have been in the first place. Now let's get on to the little "technicality" about Braun's RIGHTS having been intentionally violated by both the leakers and, frankly, ESPN whose ethics in this matter bear rigorous examination.
Quoting lawyers and blame shifting to ESPN's bad practices don't make Braun any less guilty

 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
I agree that "Not Guilty" <> "Innocent"
 
Lot of people judging Braun here. But where does MLB take the blame? First, they can't guarantee chain of custody of the drug sample. Then they leak that Braun faces a 50 game suspension due to a failed drug test in a process that is supposed to be confidential. Then, again in a confidential process, the timing of the hearing was leaked. Then when the appeal process that they agreed to with the union exonerates him they post a statement that they vehemently disagree with it. Seems like MLB screwed up just about everything they could about this process and people are quick to take MLB's side? I don't get it.

 
Lot of people judging Braun here. But where does MLB take the blame? First, they can't guarantee chain of custody of the drug sample. Then they leak that Braun faces a 50 game suspension due to a failed drug test in a process that is supposed to be confidential. Then, again in a confidential process, the timing of the hearing was leaked. Then when the appeal process that they agreed to with the union exonerates him they post a statement that they vehemently disagree with it. Seems like MLB screwed up just about everything they could about this process and people are quick to take MLB's side? I don't get it.
I don't see anyone claiming the MLB is without fault here. But blaming those that are charged with cleaning up the sport doesnt exonerate the player.It's the kind of sleight of hand that would make Johnny Cochran proud. But most of the public are harder to fool than that.
 
Did I skim that correctly? There's a problem with how the tests are done?

Oh dear
Reports are, that the guy who did the test took the urine sample home for 2 days because FED-EX was closed.Seriously.

 
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Lot of people judging Braun here. But where does MLB take the blame? First, they can't guarantee chain of custody of the drug sample. Then they leak that Braun faces a 50 game suspension due to a failed drug test in a process that is supposed to be confidential. Then, again in a confidential process, the timing of the hearing was leaked. Then when the appeal process that they agreed to with the union exonerates him they post a statement that they vehemently disagree with it. Seems like MLB screwed up just about everything they could about this process and people are quick to take MLB's side? I don't get it.
MLB deserves a ton of the blame. If they just followed protocol, a cheater would be serving a 50 game suspension. I think MLB is getting plenty of blame, and rightfully so. Doesn't change the fact that Braun is a cheater.
 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
So you know for a fact he is guilty and only getting off on a technicality?I'll take a link to these reports on what he was exactly taking to make this ONE test out of his last 25 spike like it did.Thanks
 
Lot of people judging Braun here. But where does MLB take the blame? First, they can't guarantee chain of custody of the drug sample. Then they leak that Braun faces a 50 game suspension due to a failed drug test in a process that is supposed to be confidential. Then, again in a confidential process, the timing of the hearing was leaked. Then when the appeal process that they agreed to with the union exonerates him they post a statement that they vehemently disagree with it. Seems like MLB screwed up just about everything they could about this process and people are quick to take MLB's side? I don't get it.
MLB deserves a ton of the blame. If they just followed protocol, a cheater would be serving a 50 game suspension. I think MLB is getting plenty of blame, and rightfully so. Doesn't change the fact that Braun is a cheater.
How do we know he cheated???? He reportedly passed 25 tests before this. So if you assume all those samples were handled correctly before this and he passed them all, then you have one sample that is handled incorrectly and he fails it, doesn't that raise a huge red flag with the reliability of this test?
 
Lot of people judging Braun here. But where does MLB take the blame? First, they can't guarantee chain of custody of the drug sample. Then they leak that Braun faces a 50 game suspension due to a failed drug test in a process that is supposed to be confidential. Then, again in a confidential process, the timing of the hearing was leaked. Then when the appeal process that they agreed to with the union exonerates him they post a statement that they vehemently disagree with it. Seems like MLB screwed up just about everything they could about this process and people are quick to take MLB's side? I don't get it.
MLB deserves a ton of the blame. If they just followed protocol, a cheater would be serving a 50 game suspension. I think MLB is getting plenty of blame, and rightfully so. Doesn't change the fact that Braun is a cheater.
Might want to look up what that word means.You may think he juiced, just like I think he did, but I would never say it was a fact.

There are reasons for the rules in place that would disqualify tests. It is to protect the integrity of the test. If there was no risk of that, there wouldn't be rules about it. Seems pretty simple to me.

This isn't a technicality like the guy was supposed to print his full name, sign and date, and write his employee number on it and he forgot to write his middle name down.

 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
:goodposting:
 
So the guy doing the testing thought FedEx was closed because it was late Saturday so he took it home and put it in his refrigerator :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Yeah, no chance of a tainted sample there.
I hear you. Obviously the guy put the urine sample in his fridge and then poured a whole mess of testosterone in there. Ryan Braun, the world owes you an apology.As I said in the baseball thread, the suspension absolutely should have been set aside due to MLB's failure to adhere to testing policies. However, that in no way absolves Braun of being a cheater. He should thank his lucky stars that he won't have to serve a 50 game suspension and that some naive fans will equate his suspension being overturned with him being clean.
I got this from another poster who said this quite well:

Hardly a "technicality" anymore than a criminal defense attorney whose client never should have been pulled over in the first instance because there was a lack of probable cause to do so. A failure to handle human urine in accordance with the requirements of the policies and procedures set forth in the agreement between players and the league is not a mere "technicality" and goes to the very heart and integrity of the process. If the sample is not tested within a certain period of leaving the human body, the results necessarily become tainted and subject to both criticism and quite frankly, simply being ignored, as they should have been in the first place. Now let's get on to the little "technicality" about Braun's RIGHTS having been intentionally violated by both the leakers and, frankly, ESPN whose ethics in this matter bear rigorous examination.
I am an attorney, and that is a horrible analogy.
That is pretty bad considering most of the criminal law jurisprudence comes with explicit disclaimers that the chain of custody or search issues are explicitly not done with the intent of getting the guilty free on technicalities. They're measures to protect those that might be abused by the system. Prophylactic and all that. And sometimes the procedural restrictions are actually substantive in nature, if that makes sense. I mean, the guy went home and put it in his refrigerator? I have no love of Wisconsin professional sports, but that's silliness and reckless. Why do I trust this guy over Braun? Forget that. That seems like more than some sort of technicality. That's a deviation from procedure that's ripe for abuse.

 
You either want a clean game or you dont.
I don't.The game (this and any other) has never been clean and it never will be. Trying to ban PEDs makes about as much sense as the prohibition of booze or pot in the United States. It's a fool's never-ending game of cat & mouse, and the population as a whole suffers as a result of it.

If the ham-handed buffoons who run baseball would smarten up, they'd open up the floodgates and welcome the myriad advances in human physical potential that could be unlocked through the use of PEDs. You'd have pitchers tossing 150 mph and batters hitting 600 foot home runs by the dozen. Maybe you'd even get a bunch more brawls as a result of the 'roid rage. It would be the dawning of a new golden age for baseball, for all of these things are tremendously exciting, which is in direct contrast to today's game, which is not at all exciting.

Alas, this will never happen, and baseball will continue to progressively suck more and more.

 

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