Who IS freaking Reggie Bush? And who are these old school mafioso lawyers he has hired on to defend his 'honor' and the USC football program from Lloyd Lake and his accusations of cash, money, records during Bush's time at USC?
I mean, really. Having an armed gunman come along to a deposition of the star witness in the case against Mr. Bush points STRAIGHT toward innocence. Pure, sweet football-playing innocence!
Not really. Not at all. These thuggish tactics SCREAM to the world that Bush is guilty, that he knows he's guilty, and that he knows he's going to get caught unless he does something extreme. And these thuggish tactics also show that Reggie Bush, like many a pro player, thinks he's above the law. That he and his legal team can do whatever they want.
Lake was prepared to testify under oath about the $291,000 in alleged extra benefits his failed sports agency gave to Bush and his family. But that testimony was scuttled after Lake and his attorney, Brian Watkins, say they discovered Bush's attorneys had brought an armed observer to the proceedings. Watkins and Lake said Bush's attorneys – David Cornwell and Kevin Leichter – refused to reveal why the man was present. Lake's attorneys said they interpreted his presence as an attempt to intimidate their client.
"All Cornwell said was that this guy was working for the law firm of David Cornwell and that he has a CCW (carrying concealed weapon) permit," Watkins said. "The guy sat with his arms folded the whole time, staring at Lloyd. Then he opened up his jacket and you could see that he had a gun on him. I asked (Bush's attorneys) to identify him, and they refused to even tell me his name. Then after going back and forth about it, they told me his name, but wouldn't tell me who he was working for or why he was there. I wanted a business card or something that explained who this guy was."
Watkins said the man followed Lake in "an intimidating manner" almost immediately after Lake arrived for the deposition, which was set to take place at the San Diego law offices of Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw and Pittman. Watkins said that after following Lake, the man sat down in the area where the deposition was to take place. Watkins said the man didn't identify himself, and instead stared at Lake before eventually opening his jacket to reveal a handgun. At that point, Watkins said he asked that the man leave.
Watkins said he halted the proceedings when the armed man moved "only eight to 10 feet away" from where the deposition was set to take place. He said a court reporter and videographer were in the room when the incident took place.
"I'm stunned by their conduct," said Lake's other attorney, Paul Wong. "We take this matter very seriously. You shouldn't be able to bring a gun to a deposition and threaten people. We don't even allow police officers to bring their guns to their own depositions.
Before this, I thought of this whole thing as an interesting aside in the saga of USC's relative dominance over the past few years. Maybe one of many symptoms of a program that may not do things the 'right way'. But now, I'm invested. I am rooting with all of my soul for the downfall of Reggie Bush AND his legal team. I hope he loses his Heisman, I hope USC loses their NC that year, and the Bush Push win over ND. I hope Reggie gets found in contempt along with his lawyers, and I hope they're suspended if not disbarred. If this doesn't result in some serious repercussions for all involved, there are some big-time issues witn the process.
Next time someone dings my car and we go to swear an oath that we're telling the truth about what went down, I'll just bring this guy.
Because apparently this is okay.
By Josh February 13, 2008 - 11:21 am
Let me just preface this with the fact that I’m not on Bush’s side. This story that you read doesn’t go into the background of Lloyd Lake.
“Cornwell said he felt he needed a security guard present at the deposition because of past threats he alleged Lake and his attorney have made against him and Bush.
At one time, Lake was allegedly affiliated with the Emerald Hill Bloods gang. Also, Lake spent two years in jail (2003 and ?2004) fighting a case of conspiracy to distribute marijuana because he couldn?t make bail. He was not subsequently sentenced to any additional jail time; he was placed on probation.”
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2008-02-12-lake-bush-deposition_N.htm
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By The Biscuit February 13, 2008 - 12:33 pm
Yeah Josh, I’ve read that background too. I am in no way saying that Lake is some good, nice guy. Dude’s clearly a scumbag. But bringing an armed dude to a deposition is just plain wrong, and clearly an intimidation play. If they were concerned about Lake and his past, they should’ve asked for a court venue. Not bring in an armed thug.
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By Sir John February 15, 2008 - 7:21 am
Great find and report.HLS. It does seem Bush feels he is above the Law. One cool thing about all this is Bush does not get all those millions at once.So anytime he needs an Attorney he must take out a bank loan on future earnings. Eventually dipping in and repayment lead to more lawsuits
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By bob carter June 26, 2008 - 1:37 pm
Just remember, Reggie was highly recruited by ND and almost went there. You might think differently if he was a ND guy. And how soon you forget the ND supporter that gave ND players aver 175K she stole from her South Bend employer and ND never went on probation… b
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By The Biscuit June 26, 2008 - 4:15 pm
bob, if he’d gone to ND he wouldn’t have done all this garbage. those guys wouldn’t have been around, or if they were he would’ve told them to take off, or he would have been forced to, or he would’ve been booted from the team. it’s partially reggie’s fault, and partially USC’s for letting him run rampant.
the Dunbar situation is a joke. everyone knows it. a member of a club that you have to pay $25 to enter committed fraud and somehow that’s the university’s fault? c’mon. loose ties at best. that kind of thing happens daily at other programs and no one bats an eye. it was only an ‘issue’ bc it was ND.
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By Yo Man September 12, 2008 - 7:00 pm
You assholes need to get off of his back. It was like four years ago.
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By The Biscuit September 13, 2008 - 6:05 pm
Hey Yo Man, we posted this in February. It’s freaking September. Catch up man.
And he STILL deserves to get busted.
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By Cal Fan December 24, 2008 - 2:07 pm
So it is okay to break the law and get off scott free, if you can lie, cheat and intimidate witnesses for four years? Is that how you think the legal system should work, Yo?
Stay on this one ND fans, USC is rotten through and through and needs to be shown that no one is above the law.
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By Her Loyal Sons » NCAA, Do You Need to Be Coughing or What? December 23, 2009 - 10:26 am
[...] just kept happening over and over and over and getting more and more obvious? The time where he brings an armed thug to a meeting isn’t a tip-off at all? No? The minor violations? No, not enough? The Mayo stuff comes in? [...]
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