Three Judges Named In Appeals Court For NFL's DeflateGate Case
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NFL's appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will be heard next week in New York, and now, we know who will be hearing the case.
The panel of judges presiding over the case will be Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann, Judge Barrington D. Parker and Judge Denny Chin.
While there is no way to predict certainty in such a case, the prevailing thought from legal experts since the NFL appealed Judge Richard Berman's decision has been that liberal judges would favor Brady's case, and conservative judges would favor the NFL's case.
If that is true, the selection of judges for this case bodes well for Brady.
Katmann was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1999, and Chin was appointed by Barack Obama in 2010. Parker was nominated by George W. Bush in 2001.
Chin has been in the news before, as it was his ruling in 2009 that sentenced Bernie Madoff to 150 years in prison. Chin has also ruled on sports -- or, more accurately, sports entertainment -- as he ruled against the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit brought on by the WWE against the Parents Television Council.
The case will focus on Judge Berman's ruling to overturn the NFL's suspension to Tom Brady. Berman ruled that there was "evident partiality" from Roger Goodell, who served as the arbitrator for Brady's appeal hearing, noting that the commissioner was "guilty of … refusing to hear evidence pertinent and material to the controversy."
"The Court is fully aware of the deference afforded to arbitral decisions, but, nevertheless, concludes that the Award [suspension] should be vacated," Berman wrote on Sept. 3. "The Award is premised upon several significant legal deficiencies, including (A) inadequate notice to Brady of both his potential discipline (four-game suspension) and his alleged misconduct; (B) denial of the opportunity for Brady to examine one of two lead investigators, namely NFL Executive Vice President and General Counsel Jeff Pash; and (C) denial of equal access to investigative files, including witness interview notes."
In the NFL's filing for the appeal, the league argued that Goodell's decision to suspend Brady four games was "eminently reasonable" and that no violations of the collective-bargaining agreement took place.
Earlier this month, Goodell was asked if he would reinstate the four-game suspension if the NFL wins this case. His answer was noncommital.
"I've said it publicly many times, that is not an individual player issue," Goodell said in San Francisco. "This is about the rights we negotiated in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We think they are very clear, we think they are important to the league going forward and we disagree with the District Judge's decision. We are appealing that, which is part of the legal process. I am not focused on it right now. I am not going to speculate on what we are going to do. Depending on the outcome, we'll let the outcome be dictated by the appeals court. When it happens, we'll deal with it then."
The appeal hearing is set for Thursday, March 3, at 2 p.m.