Cousins drug charge to be dropped: lawyer

[LarryNJ]

Should someone give him Sav Rocca's number, he'll fit right in won't he?

If you're insinuating that the NFL would let him get away with it, that's far from the truth. They are suspending guys for just about anything and they have no tolerance for drugs.

[GIGS20]

Oh I thought it was a pretty open market. Must be fiction! I do hear a lot of crap you know!

[frontrow]

You don't just hear it GIGST...hahahaha

[jargan83]

I think that its a joke that he thinks he can get away with sueing the AFl and West Coast for wrongful dismissal (todays West Australian). i think this goes for every sport, no matter how minor or major it is, NO ONE IS BIGGER THEN THE GAME. My opinion of him and his lawyer is that their both gutter trash. Obviously his lawyer is getting paid to represent the best interests of his client but to even contemplate sueing a sports governing body and the club that gave him his chance is an absolute joke. Obvisously West Coast had their lawyers go over the new contract he signed this year and were advised that nothing like this could happen

[frontrow]

Another article relevant in this thread, from our friends at SMH though...
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/...301083329.html

[Rugby191]

He has done the wrong thing unfortunately and is facing the consequences.

[GIGS20]

You don't just hear it GIGST...hahahaha

I'll have you know the crap I dribble is of the highest quality!!!!

[frontrow]

No argument there mate, top quality H2o, i mean crap....

[GIGS20]

Another article relevant in this thread, from our friends at SMH though...
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/...301083329.html

Man, that's high quality journalism. everything that isn't a matter of public record comes from the fountain sauce bottle.

Maybe I should become a print journalist. I can summarise newspaper articles!

[frontrow]

I reckon you might just have what it takes gigst, what with that dribbling problem of yours...You'd be a shoe in mate...

[tragic]

I think Ben's big enough to look after himself, but the news reports don't impress me because
1. they imply the drugs were his, when there's no proof they were his (therefore no charge), and that includes the Viagra, and
2. What's with publicly announcing the details of someone's prescription medicine????

[prop53]

Now lets get back to Rugby

[GIGS20]

I think Ben's big enough to look after himself, but the news reports don't impress me because
1. they imply the drugs were his, when there's no proof they were his (therefore no charge), and that includes the Viagra, and
2. What's with publicly announcing the details of someone's prescription medicine????

He didn't get off because possession wasn't proven, he got off because the drug was in pill form, and only the liquid form is classed as an illicit substance.

[Jehna]

Jehna,outside of the Road Traffic Act and the deeming clauses contained in it (which are irrelevant in the context of contract interpretation in my view), how can a charge of refusing to undergo a specimen test be considered alcohol related or drug related, especially prior to conviction? Is there now a common law presumption that failure to undergo a test is an admission of drug or alcohol abuse?

Haha totally see your point mate. Although, given that the specimen test was supposed to be taken for the purposes of seeing whether he had taken drugs etc i guess that's where the assumption springs from....granted nothing to do with the law, but since when did the law ever matter? Plus, my understanding is that the police took issue on the grounds of him not cooperating with them/interfering with the course of justice and suspected drug possession. I guess the most ridiculous thing about police powers of arrest is that there is a huge amount of discretion there....they're pretty much allowed to arrest anyone on the grounds of suspicion which is totally subjective.

Never mind, I've heard that Jehna's quite the legal eagle & prepared to take on pro bono (ie charity) cases in order to make a name for herself in the legal circles!

Ha...this fish is choosing not to bite that one...

But Fulv, isn't employment contract law in this specific climate more a case of two lawyers squaring off to see who cares more, rather than any real search for justice or truth?

I'm pretty sure that the Eagles will do whatever it takes to make this go away, if they can successfully fight any action brought against them, they will. If not, they'll throw money at it till it goes away.

You couldn't have said it any better mate. You tend to find that contracts are hideously ambiguous and open to gaping holes regardless of who drafts them because the law itself is so ambiguous. The law is certainly not about justice...if it was then all lawyers would be out of job. I imagine that the eagles will just pay Cousins out and that'll be the end of the matter. I can't imagine this turning into a court affair

He got off on a technicality. surely the contract will be written to take this into account. The famous 'Bringing the game into disrepute' clause springs to mind.

He got of the charge on a technicality yes because the law on drug possession is just disgracefully drafted. It's ridiculously easy to get off drug related charges. The contract is definitely quite water tight on this point in that it can extend to these very circumstances. In fact, the clause they used to sack Cousins was drafted with this very scenario in mind. I'm quite confident that the eagles would win any unfair dismissal case Cousin's threw at them but he's not planning on taking this one to trial...he's just looking for a pay out and its exactly what he'll get because the eagles don't need anymore bad publicity and the costs of a court battle would just throw the club into further disrepute and cost them even more money....it's well in their interests to just pay him out to shut him up and move on. In reality, the principles of who is right and wrong don't come into it. There's not point in practicing this area of law with that attitude because it is the very same dog eat dog corporate world that starts this crap in the first place.