[[sa]deadEd]

Originally Posted by Canecorsos

I agree, That is why they cut it in half..

Then again, they did cut James Toney's suspension in half even though he did nothing at all to even try to prove his innocence.

[BIel Casen]

The CSAC has almost no budget, and when better testing started showing 2 fighters per event testing positive earlier this year, they knew they had to plea these cases out.

Appeal for any reason, and your suspension is cut in half.

Admit guilt, for any reason, and your full suspension is upheld.

[Threadstarter]

Good read.

[Straw_Dog]

Olympic medalist Marion Jones screamed and yelled too, like the article mentioned that an innocent person would do.

She is now heading to prison.

[Straw_Dog]

And by the way, Marion's original lawyer is now Sherk's lawyer.

[Boxcar]

http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/7588978

....

InsideFighting: Thank you for taking time to speak with us, Sean. What is your reaction to the California state athletic commission reducing your suspension by half to six months? Are you happy because the suspension time was reduced or does it still bother you because you are recognized by them as a steroid user?

Sean Sherk: I'm not happy about it at all. It was a loss. We came in there with so many facts, so much proof including tons of mistakes they made regarding chain of custody, carryover and other things. They test everyone's urine on the same machine. We found contamination in supplements I had taken.

I had clean bloodwork done, I took a polygraph, we just had so much evidence but it fell on deaf ears. Regardless of what I came in there with they were not going to listen. It was a huge loss. I'm looking to pursue this as far as I can.

.....

IF: How did they treat you "like garbage?"

Sherk: After the positive drug testing, we had a first meeting. We showed up but the commission wasn't prepared for it, weren't ready for it at all. There was a lack of communication and they didn't hand out our paperwork. Sure enough they wanted to proceed anyway but one of the other guys said, "We can't do this properly." Then it got postponed to two weeks later and right before they postpone it again for no reason. We showed up and they postponed it again and we had to show up Dec. 4.

A couple of days before the hearing they decide to go from a formal hearing to an informal hearing. In a formal hearing you can call witnesses; you can have witness examination and cross examination to get all the facts on the table. But a couple of days before they say it will be an informal hearing and that we cant bring in any witness and that there will be no examination of the state's witnesses allowed. Now they don't allow us to present our case properly. They allowed their witnesses to speak but we couldn't bring our witness out. That seems pretty biased to me.

The guy from Quest lab that did the testing was up there almost the whole time. The whole time, I'm asking, 'How can you do this, how can you do that?' And they blatantly tell us, 'We can do whatever we want.' It's just crazy to think about.

IF: Who was the witness you all had planned to call?

Sherk: The witness we had planned was a polygraph expert. I took a polygraph test and passed. I just wanted to get that out there. I don't think that they took it into consideration at all. The guy who actually gave me the test was going to be the witness. He has been doing them for twenty plus years. We also wanted to talk to the Quest guy about the mistakes they made. There were a lot of chain of custody mistakes made by them. Things we wanted to find out like, 'Why would you even test if you've got documented carry over?'

IF: Talk about what your understanding of "carryover" is, please.

Sherk: Everyone gives a sample before and after they fight. They test on the same machine with all the samples. There were tests before me that tested positive for steroids. They are supposed to do a water blank after each test and then run a test again to make sure it's showing zero. Right before me the machine wasn't clean and it came back with steroids. That's what the carryover is. The Quest guy knew about all these issues. Everything they do is documented. But they kept proceeding with the stuff. My attorney did his research and presented the case as best he could under the circumstances. We were not given our opportunity properly and were speaking to deaf ears.

...

IF: You said that you all also found some supplement contamination in things you had taken. Talk about that please. What, exactly, did you find?

Sherk: Yeah, it was actually a testosterone booster in my Glucosamine supplement. It was just a regular Glucosamine supplement. I had seven of my twenty two supplements tested. That was one of the supplements I decided to send in to the lab. Testosterone boosters raise a test number. There's no proof that's exactly what caused it but it's clear that there is contamination and it could be the cause.

IF: Shouldn't you have known what was in your supplements and if they could have caused problems for you in tests?

Sherk: See, what happens is the companies have the products and they have to list what's in the product. If they list something that's illegal then that's my fault. It's my job to know what I can and cannot take. If I take something that has something illegal or banned on the label, then it's my fault. But what some companies do is they put things in their products that are not supposed to be there so you can get a little more effect and think, "Hey this is a great product." For the average person that may be fine but for guys like me that compete and are tested I could be entitled to one hell of good lawsuit.

When companies have the supplements made there are hundreds and hundreds made at the same place using the same equipment. One company may have one thing up to commission standards but another may not and when they make something like Glucosamine they put a little bit of this and a little bit that. That's where the contamination comes from. My Glucosamine had the testosterone booster, that's contamination and I've learned that happens a lot. I just read about a study in USA Today that said 25 percent of all supplements are contaminated

I didn't even know what contamination was before. Now I'm doing all this research. I take twenty two different supplements. With 25 percent of those supplements having the risk of being contaminated that increases my chances of having contamination pretty well. I can't stop taking supplements, I need the stuff and its legal so what am I going to do? I can't test all of my supplements; it's about $350 to $500 per test.

....



MORE AT THE LINK

[Boxcar]

Sounds like a kangaroo court.

[screaminleeman]

Agreed. Since the CSAC could not provide the clean water test results, it is obvious that the test was not performed correctly.

The CSAC is Damn lucky that this is not LAW Enforcement or the Judicial system. If this had anything to do with LEGAL or our Judicial System the test would have been inadmissable as evidence to even allow for a case to be made by the CSAC. If somehow the CSAC was able to draw a case from their failure to perform drug tests at a minimum legal standard the organizations executives would all lose their jobs and or the organization would be legally disbanded!

[BIel Casen]

Originally Posted by screaminleeman

Agreed. Since the CSAC could not provide the clean water test results, it is obvious that the test was not performed correctly.

Guilty.

[KneeOnBelly]

there's an enormous amount of evidence that raises a lot of doubt about his steroid use. there's no way, however, that the csac is going to admit they made a mistake.