Diaz's lawyer responds - Good case Diaz may not be punished at all.

http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/2012/3/13/2866743/nick-diazs-lawyer-issues-response-to-nsac-states-law-proves-diaz

Mar 13, 2012 - Nick Diaz is not going down without a fight.

Weeks after the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that Diaz had tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his UFC 143 loss to Carlos Condit in February and was potentially subject to an undetermined punishment, Diaz's lawyer, Ross Goodman of the Las Vegas-based Goodman Law Group, has issued a strong response to the NSAC, which raises some serious questions regarding whether Diaz deserves to be punished at all.

In the response, which Goodman has shared with MMAFighting.com and can be found below, he explains that Diaz's medical marijuana use, which he states should be, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency, whose laws have been adopted by the NSAC, considered "out-of-competition" since it ended eight days before the fight, plus the fact that only marijuana metabolites were found in his system, are reasons why Diaz didn't break any of the NSAC's rules.

Goodman also states that the "presence of a marijuana metabolite is not a prohibited substance under NAC 487.850 and should not, therefore, serve as a basis for any disciplinary action."

According to Goodman, Diaz's hearing in Nevada could happen as soon as April, but no exact date has been finalized just yet. Diaz's license was temporarily suspended by the NSAC in February. He hopes that this response will allow Diaz, who was suspended for six months and fined by the NSAC for testing positive for marijuana following his PRIDE 33 fight against Takanori Gomi February 2007, to walk away from the situation without any kind of punishment.


If some buried thread exists that already details one of the old blog posts where stuff like this was mentioned, suck my fucking dick

I hope Nick has a case because I'd hate to see him on the sidelines for a year.

Unfortunately I don't see much of a case here.

Yeah I don't have high hopes for this...

I had to dig it up, but there was an excellent case made by a lawyer who posts on BE(he was a Vancouver/athletic commissioner so A. he isn't American and B. is from an area in white North America that is very pro-pot and utterly opposite of Nevada which thinks literally that selling pot is more bad than selling your anus for penetrative sex) where he made a much longer version of this case that basically says Diaz's use doesn't violate anti-doping rules for several reasons. Diaz's lawyer is using the same defense.

I really recommend you guys read this post. It is quite interesting.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/2/13/2795266/ufc-nick-diaz-drug-test-no-disciplinary-sanction-jonathan-tweedal

There are two basic conflicting factors at play I see influencing how this plays out -

1. The fact Nevada is Nazi Germany in terms of how the state views pot.

2. Diaz is probably one of the biggest draws, if not THE biggest the UFC has right now with casuals now that Brock is retired and GSP's reputation has declined, and Nevada makes money directly off UFC draws.


If they rule in Nick's favor, I read it could even retroactively return his win over Gomi back into a win(not that we don't all see it as a win anyway but ya know)

he has a good shot i think.

[youtube][/youtube]

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/3/13/2869359/nick-diaz-pre-fight-medical-questionnaire
There is no mention of Medicinal Marijuana usage. Another interesting note is that Nick weighed only 176lbs 2 weeks before the fight.

According to Kevin Iole the Nevada attorney general called nick a liar because of what he filled in on this form.
http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/ipt/DiazPrefightQ.pdf

That may end up fucking him. Still, I bet the reduce his sentence to six months cause that is basically the standard course for any appeal regardless.

I wonder if in the future he can get some kind of medical exemption?

I'd like to see Nick fight and beat Josh Koscheck. Beat him bad, even lose by DQ for a bunch of dirty illegal strikes but still f that clown up. Kos is dead to me.

LMAO his bullshit was thrown out pretty quick

Well he pretty much fucked himself over by checking no in the shit. It's likely he could have a case if he correctly filled out the form in the first place. But falsifying the information severely hurts any chance he may have had to have this shit reversed.

Keith Kizer is still a cunt.

Ludo wrote:

Well he pretty much fucked himself over by checking no in the shit. It's likely he could have a case if he correctly filled out the form in the first place. But falsifying the information severely hurts any chance he may have had to have this shit reversed.

basically Diaz broke a law, lied, thought he could cover it up, got caught, tried a half ass legal defense, and the INITIAL LIE FUCKED HIM

GOod I am glad

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/3/16/2876687/lawyer-nick-diaz-didnt-lie-about-marijuana-prescription
The lawyer, Ross Goodman, responded to the NSAC accusation in a conversation with MMA Junkie late last night, and said that Nick's medical marijuana card doesn't constitute a prescription. This apparently means Nick didn't lie on the form. Here's what he said:

"The way that you become a medical marijuana patient is ... that you have a doctor," Goodman said. "A doctor doesn't prescribe to you marijuana. A doctor recommends that that would be an approved use for whatever diagnosis somebody has. In [Diaz's] case, [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]. So nowhere is there an actual prescription for marijuana. It would be illegal for any doctor to prescribe marijuana."

Diaz submitted an affidavit (Exhibit A) with the original challenge that stated the following:

"I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD"). My physician, Robert E. Sullivan, approved the use of marijuana to treat ADHD."

So, no one actually said that Nick was "prescribed" the marijuana by the doctor, right?. So far so good for that defense. Well, until you look a little closer and see the affidavit submitted in the original challenge by the doctor, John Hiatt, who is Goodman's medical expert in regards to the effects of marijuana. Point 11 of his statement says the following:

"If an individual has a valid medical prescription for marijuana in some form, then in view of all the uncertainties associated with interpreting the meaning of the presence of THC metabolite in urine, it is not reasonable to reach any conclusion in regard to a persons ability to compete in an athletic contest."

But he didn't have a valid prescription according to Goodman, so I guess that argument is out the window. In addition to that, Junkie points out another prescription reference made by Goodman in the challenge, and references Cesar Gracie's comments on the issue:

Yet in his challenge to the NSAC, Goodman cites a statute originally intended to address driving that defines a prohibited substance as any for which a person doesn't have a "valid prescription." And in previous interviews, Diaz's manager, Cesar Gracie, has said Diaz carries a prescription for medical pot.

So no one is on record saying that Nick specifically had a prescription (other than Cesar), but multiple statements in the challenge make reference to the need for one. Muddied waters. After the jump you can see how Nick's lawyer responded to this, and read what Keith Kizer had to say regarding Nick's test.

Star-divide

Goodman's response? NSAC isn't addressing the real issues, apparently:

"So what are we talking about? I don't think the Nevada State Athletic Commission knows how to address that issue now because we brought the actual rules to light. So now I think that they're first reaction was, 'Well, shoot, we do have some potential issues,' so what else can we say was wrong here? Oh, there was a pre-fight medical questionnaire that's asking for prescription medication? That was untruthful.'

"Maybe instead of attacking him and blaming him for something that's completely ridiculous, they should have a special category (on the questionnaire) that says, 'Are you a medical-marijuana patient?'"

In the article, Keith Kizer also confirms the actual ng/ml numbers from the first test:

The levels of all marijuana metabolties in Diaz's system were above an acceptable limit of 50 nanograms on his first test, according to NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer, and 10 nanograms above an acceptable limit of 15 nanograms of the carboxylic acid metabolite on the second test.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/4/12/2943804/nick-diaz-legal-team-files-new-claim-against-the-nsac
Goodman's new claim is response to an allegation by the NSAC that lied on his pre-fight questionnaire (pdf), by not listing marijuana as a prescription drug he was using and checking "no" on a box asking about prescription drug use. Diaz has a doctor's recommendation that he use medical marijuana to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Medical marijuana is legal in Nevada and California.

Goodman further claims that the NSAC complaint "does not allege any facts supporting that Diaz violated a rule"and that "after the fact allegations impugning Diaz's character serve to distract from the core issue that Nevada does not prohibit inactive marijuana metabolites."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/28309/nick-diaz-hearing-on-hold-as-nsac-awaits-medical-marijuana-card.mma
A tersely worded letter (.pdf) from Nick Diaz's camp demanding to be placed on the agenda for next week's Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting was unsuccessful.

The Nevada attorney general issued a response (.pdf) on Monday that states the fighter's appeal won't proceed without a medical-marijuana card previously agreed to be admitted in the commission proceedings.

Diaz's appeal of a suspension the NSAC issued thus has been tabled and isn't on the agenda for the commission's April 24 meeting in Las Vegas.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/4/26/2978964/ufc-nick-diaz-nsac-lawsuit-due-process-drug-test-mma-news
Luke Thomas breaks down the suit at MMA Fighting:

Quote :

Diaz's suit centers on three allegations, two of which relate to statutory complaints for which he seeks injunctive relief -- namely, to have the temporary suspension lifted and to not be required to go any further punitive proceedings. The other allegation focuses on Diaz's due process rights, the NSAC's violation of which entitles Diaz to both injunctive and declaratory relief, according to the lawsuit.

Diaz is arguing the NSAC is in violation of two statutory codes. First, statutory code NRS 233B, requires the commission to determine the outcome through proceedings related to the order of a summary suspension within 45 days of the date of the suspension.

Diaz and his lawyers argue this term has passed without any date set for a hearing. "Diaz's license has, in effect, been suspended indefinitely," says the lawsuit, "in the absence of any adverse findings having been made against him by the NSAC."

...

Diaz's complaint also cites breach of statute NRS 467.117, which requires that a "temporary suspension may be made only where the action is necessary to protect the public welfare". In other words, Diaz's temporary suspension is unlawful because no basis has been established that demonstrates suspending Diaz was done as a matter of preserving public health.

Citing the alleged violation of these two statutes by the NSAC, Diaz's complaint asks the court to enjoin NSAC from proceeding with any further punitive proceedings because "the NSAC has lost statutory jurisdiction to proceed with the complaint."

Ultimately Diaz will probably come away pretty good with all this legal maneuvering. The NSAC will probably just cave and give him a six month suspension which will be almost over soon. Diaz will fight by this fall and if not, he for sure will be ready to fight the GSP-Condit winner.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Ultimately Diaz will probably come away pretty good with all this legal maneuvering. The NSAC will probably just cave and give him a six month suspension which will be almost over soon. Diaz will fight by this fall and if not, he for sure will be ready to fight the GSP-Condit winner.

Last Tuesday, UFC welterweight Nick Diaz filed a lawsuit against the Nevada state athletic commission, claiming that the state regulation agency violated his right to due process by declining to grant him a hearing on the status of his fighter’s license within 45 days of his suspension. 

According to the state of Nevada’s office of the attorney general, the legal move is misguided. That is because Diaz’s legal team, headed by Ross C. Goodman, cited a “summary suspension” of Diaz’s license in his court filing. According to Nevada’s state codes, a summary suspension can be ordered if an agency finds that “public health, safety or welfare imperatively require emergency action.”

 But in a written response from Nevada attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto to Goodman and forwarded to MMA Fighting, the state of Nevada asserts that Diaz’s legal team misunderstood the suspension.

“No Notice of Summary Suspension was ever served on your client,” Masto wrote. “In this matter, Mr. Diaz was properly served with a ‘Notice of Hearing on Temporary Suspension’ and he failed to appear at the hearing. The Commission temporarily suspended Mr. Diaz’s license at the hearing. Neither Mr. Diaz nor you objected in any manner to the temporary suspension.”

The letter effectively indicates that because Diaz was not given a “summary suspension,” his case does not fall under Nevada code NRS 233B.127, which requires a hearing within 45 days. A separate code, NRS 467.117, indicates that the commission can ” continue the suspension until it makes a final determination of any disciplinary action to be taken against the licensee or holder of the permit.”

The letter also indicates that the NSAC delay in scheduling Diaz’s hearing was partially his fault, caused while waiting for him to produce his medical marijuana card.

“I’ve waited for more than a month for the card,” Masto wrote.

Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites on February 4, shortly after losing a UFC 143 match against Carlos Condit. On a pre-fight medical questionnaire, he denied taking any “prescribed medications” in the last two weeks. 

On April 4, Nevada sent Goodman a letter asking him to produce Diaz’s medical marijuana card. Goodman later produced a letter from Diaz’s doctor, Robert E. Sullivan, who said he had first issued a physician’s statement in June 2009 which noted that Diaz had a ‘serious medical condition” which would, in his professional opinion, “benefit from the use of medical cannabis.” He issued a follow-up statement on Feb. 28, 2012, re-affirming the same.

The Nevada attorney general’s office said that they are moving forward with their complaint against Diaz, and that they would still attempt to hold a disciplinary hearing on the matter.

Meanwhile, Nevada’s Clark County District Court has set a May 14 hearing at 10:30 am on Goodman’s request for an injunction against the suspension on Diaz’s license.

The Nevada attorney general's office, on behalf of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, has filed a document opposing a request for an injunction against Nick Diaz's temporary suspension.

According to the commission, it has been held up by both the absence of evidence that the attorney general requested and the fighter's initial challenge of his failed drug test.

"Mr. Diaz has failed to exhaust his administrative remedies," states the 20-page document, a copy of which MMAjunkie.com recently obtained. "In this matter, Mr. Diaz ignored the process and now has attempted to go into court and claim that he is being harmed."

On May 14, a Nevada judge will determine whether the NSAC moves forward with administrative proceedings. Diaz could face a yearlong suspension and fines with a formal suspension, which would be his second in the state.

I guess the found out that Nick does not even have a medical marijuana card in California.

Any jackass can get a medical marijuana card...all you have to do is..show up

KingsOwn19 wrote:

I guess the found out that Nick does not even have a medical marijuana card in California.

Any jackass can get a medical marijuana card...all you have to do is..show up

lolwut?

Diaz is sworn in in front of NSAC right now.