Could Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott play vs. Giants in Week 1 with legal Hail Mary?
August 13, 2017 by admin
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EAST RUTHERFORD – The only way Ezekiel Elliott plays against the Giants in Week 1, in all likelihood, is if he sues his way onto the field.
Therein lies the question the Giants, and many others, may find themselves asking in a few days or weeks: Could the Cowboys’ star running back get his six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy delayed thanks to legal maneuvering?
Elliott is expected to appeal the league’s decision to discipline him after a lengthy investigation of domestic violence allegations made against him. Elliott has three business days, dating back to Friday’s suspension announcement, to appeal the suspension. The league then has to hear his appeal within 10 business days.
Elliott’s appeal will be heard before the Giants’ season opener in Dallas against the Cowboys on Sept. 10. Elliott is likely to lose that appeal outright, though, with a minimal chance for a suspension reduction. Even if the ban is reduced, he would still miss the Giants game.
However, if Elliott were to lose his NFL appeal, he could decide to take the league to court like Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after his Deflategate suspension.
Elliott would be a heavy underdog to ultimately prevail if there is a legal battle, according to Sports Illustrated’s legal expert Michael McCann. The running back may be able to delay the suspension with a court injunction, though, which could put him on the field in Week 1.
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Here’s what McCann had to say about the possibility Elliott could pick up a short-term win over the NFL:
[T]he Cowboys’ first regular season game will be played on Sept. 10. This leaves Elliott slightly less than one month to try to eradicate the pending suspension before it precludes him from playing in an actual game. If Elliott’s potential case hasn’t been resolved in court before Sept. 10, he would likely then petition a judge to issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order. If such a remedy were granted, it would essentially suspend the six-game suspension until Elliott has his day in court.
Injunctions are considered extraordinary remedies and petitions for them are usually rejected. Among other points, Elliott would need to convince a judge that he would suffer irreparable harm if he misses any games. Elliott would emphasize that he would never be able to get those games back. In response, the NFL would stress that Elliott could be reimbursed for lost wages plus interest if he later prevailed in court. As an advantage for the NFL, courts are often skeptical that a particular harm is “irreparable” if money damages can later repair it.
McCann also writes both Elliott’s camp and the NFL would likely do some court shopping if the dispute is escalated after the appeal. McCann said the NFL would likely move to file suit against Elliott in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
That court has ruled in favor of the NFL multiple times in the past, including in the Brady case (eventually). The league has a built-in advantage of knowing when it will announce its appeal decision, McCann writes, so the NFL usually beats the other party to the punch. The party that files first tends to get a case heard in its chosen venue.
Elliott would try to file a suit in any other court, McCann writes:
Perhaps Elliott would sue in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio since some of the allegations concern events that took place there. Or he might sue in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas since he is employed in Dallas. Another option: the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since the NFLPA is headquartered there.
McCann also mentions the possibility Elliott could sue the NFL in Texas state court and argue the NFL has defamed him to what may be a friendlier audience. Judges are elected in Texas, after all.
McCann doesn’t weigh in on how likely Elliott would be to get an injunction if it came to that. But it is a real possibility. Elliott is suspended for Week 1, and will likely not play against the Giants. Nothing is official until the ball is kicked off on Sunday Night Football and he’s not in uniform, though.
James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.
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Pressure grows on Kenyan opposition to concede election defeat
August 13, 2017 by admin
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NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya was largely quiet on Sunday following violence in the aftermath of elections, as opposition leader Raila Odinga came under growing international pressure to concede defeat.
The election commission on Friday declared incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta winner of the presidential poll by 1.4 million votes. International observers said Tuesday’s election was largely fair but Odinga disputes the results, saying it was rigged. He has not provided documentary evidence.
There have been at least 24 deaths in election-related unrest, a rights group said on Saturday. But by Sunday the violence appeared to have largely abated, to the relief of Kenyans who feared a repeat of the violence that followed 2007′s disputed election.
Around 1,200 people were killed then and 600,000 displaced after Odinga called for political protests that sparked ethnic violence. Regional trade was paralyzed and Kenya’s economy – the region’s biggest – took years to recover.
This time, diplomats and regional leaders are urging Odinga, a former political prisoner, to concede. Their united stance leaves the 72-year-old opposition leader isolated if he chooses to maintain the allegations of election fraud and proclaim himself president.
He has not issued a public statement since Thursday but is due to address supporters in Nairobi’s biggest slum on Sunday afternoon. Party leaders speaking on his behalf continue to accuse the government of vote-rigging and covering up the murder of their supporters.
Kenya’s allies say the election was largely fair.
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“I want to congratulate Uhuru Kenyatta,” said a Sunday statement by Federica Mogherini, foreign minister for the European Union, which did over $3 billion worth of trade with Kenya last year.
“In line with the African Union, the EU expects the opposition to respect the results and to use legal means available for appeals and complaints.”
NO POWER-SHARING DEALS
A Western diplomat said allies were not interested in revisiting the type of power-sharing deals that ended the post-election violence a decade ago. That avenue was “not an option”, he said.
“If you have evidence that the election was rigged, produce it … NASA has been changing its position in quite significant ways in the past week,” he said, referring to Odinga’s opposition coalition, the National Super Alliance.
“Most of the stuff they are alleging is not accurate.”
Initially, the coalition alleged the electoral server had been hacked, and produced 50 pages of computer logs that security experts said were inconclusive at best.
They later said a secret source within the electoral board had passed them the true election results. That two-page document was debunked by the election commission, who pointed out basic mathematical errors.
Later, Odinga said paper forms from each polling station scanned and uploaded to the election commission website to support its electronic tally were fake. He has not produced alternative forms.
Regional leaders have already congratulated Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of the country’s first president, on winning a second term.
“Congratulations my brother @UKenyatta for a successful election and the trust Kenyans have placed in you!” tweeted Rwandan president Paul Kagame. Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda have also sent congratulations.
There were some clashes between Odinga supporters and police on Saturday. Hospitals and morgues reported no new deaths.
In Kisumu, the western city that is Odinga’s heartland of support, some shops opened on Sunday and traffic was moving normally.
“Kisumu is calm … for now the whole region is calm and we are happy,” Leonard Katana, assistant inspector general of police for the western Nyanza region.
In Nairobi, residents of slum areas said the situation there was calm.
Additional reporting by Maggie Fick in Kisumu; writing by Katharine Houreld; editing by Andrew Roche