Pengacara AS: Pengakuan Lance Armstrong Ongkosnya Jutaan Dolar
US Lawyers: Doping Admission Could Cost Lance Armstrong Millions Dolar
Editor : Heru S Winarno
Translator : Parulian Manalu
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New York (B2B) - Pengakuan pebalap sepeda Lance Armstrong bahwa dia menggunakan obat pemacu performa dalam karir balapnya tidak hanya melukai reputasi, tapi juga mengganggu keseimbangan rekening bank karena ada satu perusahaan yang meminta US$12 juta darinya.
Perusahaan yang bermarkas di Texas, SCA Promotions, menyatakan akan menuntut Armstrong jika dia tidak mengembalikan bonus uang US$12 juta yang mereka bayar untuk kemenangan-kemenangan selama Tour de France.
Menurut pengacara SCA, Jeff Tillotson, kliennya meminta kembali uang itu setelah Armstrong mengaku melakukan doping dalam wawancara dengan Oprah Winfrey pada Kamis (17/1).
"Pernyataan Lance Armstrong sangat mengejutkan klien saya, karena pada dasarnya dia mengakui bahwa semua yang dia sampaikan di bawah sumpah tidak benar," katanya.
"Dia tidak layak, dan tidak berhak atas uang itu," katanya.
Tillotson mengatakan, pengakuan Armstrong tentang kecurangan selama karir balap sepedanya juga bisa membawa masalah hukum yang lain.
"Sekarang, setelah dia mengatakan, ´Saya melakukannya sepanjang waktu,´ dia membuang apa yang bisa menjadi alat untuk bertahan," kata Geoffrey Rapp, profesor hukum di University of Toledo, yang mengikuti kasus itu.
Rapp mengatakan, pengakuan Armstrong akan membuat dia sulit melakukan pembelaan dalam kasus-kasus hukum yang sedang dihadapi.
"Hampir bisa dipastikan dia harus meyiapkan diri untuk menyelesaikan kasus yang berhubungan dengan Floyd Landis. Dia pada dasarnya sudah menghilangkan ruang-ruang yang bisa digunakan untuk membela diri," katanya.
Selain beberapa tuntutan hukum yang sudah diajukan, Armstrong bisa menghadapi tuduhan dari orang-orang yang sebelumnya dia serang karena menuduhnya melakukan doping, kata Matt Orwig, mantan penuntut federal yang sekarang bergabung dengan biro hukum Jones Day.
"Ada pengacara-pengacara yang mewakili beragam kepentingan di seluruh negeri yang merekam wawancara itu. Dari perspektif hukum, masalahnya makin sulit, tidak berkurang. Saya tidak melihat dia menyelesaikan masalah apapun. Saya pikir dia malah membuka pintu untuk masalah yang lain," katanya.
New York - Lance Armstrong´s admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career could hurt his bank balance as much as his reputation, with one company demanding $12 million from him.
The Texas-based company, SCA Promotions, said it would sue Armstrong if he did not pay them back $12 million in bonus money they paid out for Tour de France wins.
SCA lawyer Jeff Tillotson said they wanted their $12 million back following his admission in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he had doped.
"Lance Armstrong´s statements were jaw-dropping to my clients, because he basically admitted that everything he told us in his sworn deposition was untrue," Tillotson told.
"He doesn´t deserve, and is not entitled to, that money."
Lawyers said Armstrong´s startling confession to Winfrey that he cheated his way to the top could result in other legal problems.
"Now that he´s said, ´I was doing it the whole time,´ he´s taken away what would be his real defense," said Geoffrey Rapp, a law professor at the University of Toledo who has followed the case.
Rapp said that while he was unlikely to face criminal exposure, his admission would make it more difficult to defend against civil actions.
"It seems almost certain that he´s prepared to settle the Floyd Landis whistleblower case. He´s basically taken away any room that he might have had to argue at the time that he wasn´t doping," said Rapp.
In addition to several lawsuits already filed, Armstrong could also face new defamation claims from the numerous people he attacked over the years for accusing him of doping, according to Matt Orwig, a former federal prosecutor now with the law firm Jones Day.
"There are lawyers across the country representing various interests who are recording that interview. From a legal perspective, his issues are becoming more difficult, not less. I don´t see that he solved any problems. I think he opened the door on others," Orwig said.
