Clemens v McNamee: First Inning

        Here is my post on the subject on Sports Law Blog and the post of Howard Wasserman.

        Now Clemens has filed a defamation suit against his former trainer. This is high stakes poker the two former friends are playing. Only one of them can be telling the truth and the other has subjected himself to serious consequences. If McNamee is lying, he clearly has not only defamed Clemens but broken his plea deal with federal prosecutors. If Clemens is lying, he can forget the Hall of Fame and will probably face perjury charges if he testifies falsely before Congress.

Proof will be the issue for both men. One doubts there is any documentary evidence like emails. It will be one man’s word against another. How a fact finder makes the determination of who to believe will be fascinating to watch, as it is in every jury trial. Anyone who watched 60 Minutes went through the same process a jury will be selected to undergo, although the cross examiner should be more probing than Clemens’ friend Mike Wallace. Did he look us in the eye? What was his body language telling us? Did he have a motive to lie? Did he look like he was telling a truth?

Here is a copy of the Complaint.

Alan Milstein