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Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

LightningRod;1163166; said:
RR's attorney refused to allow RR to testify about conversations RR had with Rita or with others while Rita was in their presence.

Not to mention, the privilege, even if it were applicable, does not extent to mere presence of the confidant. Indeed, the presence of people with whom you don't share the privilege BREAKS it.
 
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DaddyBigBucks;1163174; said:
And how are conversations about the movie "Dumb and Dumber" even a little off-topic in this thread?
04.jpg

Stay on target!
 
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I am not sure that claiming agent status for Rita was a good idea. Hopefully she has some super credentials as a litigation assistant. Robon is an officer of the court and as such has a duty to refrain from playing games. Given that these people are already the subject of a Rule 11 type hearing with respect to the WVU Foundation does not surprise me. Let's see if the lawyer can manage to stay out of trouble.
 
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LightningRod;1163166; said:
There is another interesting twist from RR's deposition. RR's lawyer claims that RR's wife Rita has been hired by the attorney as an agent for this lawsuit (you can't make this stuff up). LOL!!! Outside of constitutional criminal proceedings and constitutional criminal rights there is no interspousal immunity preventing one spouse from testifying about conversations and dealings with the other spouse. RR's attorney refused to allow RR to testify about conversations RR had with Rita or with others while Rita was in their presence. The judge is going to love this.

Clearly, this man has nothing to hide.

sparcboxbuck;1163182; said:
If this is true it's a smart move... only if he can get away with it. I have to guess that at some point this move will (as many others) backfire on them... that is, unless she is qualified to be an "agent" in such a setting.
It will backfire in the sense that it essentially proves the fucking chimp has something to hide. I'm loving this more and more everyday.

Oh, still an ass.
 
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NFBuck;1163226; said:
Clearly, this man has nothing to hide.


It will backfire in the sense that it essentially proves the fucking chimp has something to hide. I'm loving this more and more everyday.
What do you think there would be to hide? It seems as plain as day to me: RR signed the contract, and the contract is public knowledge, yes? WVU is trying to ensure he lives up to the $4M buyout end of the bargain - the case hinges on whether a judge decides verbal agreements constitute part of the contract and if so, did WVU live up to them? What bombshell are you hoping for?

The protection of attorney-client privilege is A) sacrosanct and B) probably more of interest to Robon than Rodriguez. A lawyer who gains a reputation of allowing privileged stuff to go on the record is not going to be with his firm for very long.
 
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HailToMichigan;1163284; said:
What do you think there would be to hide? It seems as plain as day to me: RR signed the contract, and the contract is public knowledge, yes? WVU is trying to ensure he lives up to the $4M buyout end of the bargain - the case hinges on whether a judge decides verbal agreements constitute part of the contract and if so, did WVU live up to them? What bombshell are you hoping for?
No bombshells, everything is pretty much already out there (though the contact to Cissoko with a WVU cellphone is an interesting new twist), but I'm sure WVU would like to get her on the stand to testify to certain conversations they may have had about his (alleged) initiated contact of UM. I'm not saying it was the wrong move by any means, just doesn't make him look any better. This whole case stinks and he's looking worse and worse each day. It's not just us slamming him HTM. It's going national. I'm even beginning to notice a little more discomfort on UM boards. Enjoy.
 
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HailToMichigan;1163284; said:
What do you think there would be to hide? It seems as plain as day to me: RR signed the contract, and the contract is public knowledge, yes? WVU is trying to ensure he lives up to the $4M buyout end of the bargain - the case hinges on whether a judge decides verbal agreements constitute part of the contract and if so, did WVU live up to them? What bombshell are you hoping for?

The protection of attorney-client privilege is A) sacrosanct and B) probably more of interest to Robon than Rodriguez. A lawyer who gains a reputation of allowing privileged stuff to go on the record is not going to be with his firm for very long.

Well, if you read the deposition, it's easy to see what the defense is trying to avoid revealing. The timing of the discussion about whether Rita was an agent, and the statement of fact that there is no interspousal immunity in West Virginia, relate to the discussion of the meeting in the Toledo area on December 14th, among TSUN AD Bill Martin, TSUN President Mary Sue Coleman, RR, Rita R, attorney Marvin Robon and his partner attorney Ethan Davis, Mike Brown (RR's agent/lawyer), and Mike Wilcox (RR's financial advisor).

At that point in the questioning, the WVU lawyers were trying to determine if there was a clause in the Letter of Intent (RR still hadn't signed a contract with TSUN when the deposition was taken) that stated that TSUN and/or a TSUN booster would handle the $4 million liquidated damages that RR may owe to WVU. There was a blackened out/redacted area of the document given to the WVU attorneys. Robon instructed RR not to answer the question about what was in that section.

They then tried to get at the topic via the angle that the information wasn't privileged. RR stated that Martin and Coleman were in a separate room when they discussed things (whether they really were, or whether Robon realized they needed to state that they were is something we'll probably never know). Since Martin and Coleman supposedly weren't in the room, and the others are RR's lawyers and can claim attorney/client privilege, I'm sure the WVU lawyers will try to get Rita R. to answer that question. She may be forced to do so.

It's clear that both sides believe that whether or not there is a clause to cover those liquidated damages in RR's Letter of Intent (which outlines the terms for which he is currently being paid) is a key element in the case.
 
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One other comment on a portion of RR's testimony. He was talking about how his relationship with WVU AD Ed Pastilong had changed after the new WVU President took over at the end of last summer.

Rodriquez: "You can tell me -- it was a completely different mentality and mindset than I had seen since President Garrison had taken office. And it shocked me.
I think he was -- in a way he was almost talking down to me. In fact, he asked me, he says look at all the things I did for you. And I said, such as what? And he said, you didn't even know what deferred compensation is. And I said, what do you mean I don't know what it is? I said, I've been takling about it for a couple years. And he said, no, you don't even know what that is.
So, I mean, he was talking almost to the point like I wasn't very intelligent."

I trust that Rodriquez is accurate in that last statement. He should be quite familiar with people talking to him that way.
 
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You have to love a guy like RR. Here is a LINK that contains a copy of his first amended employment agreement with WVU. The WVU attorney established in the deposition that all of the handwritten changes in the 1st amended agreement were made by RR in his handwriting. These were items that RR had trouble with that he insisted on changing before he signed the amended agreement. RR's 2nd amended agreement (the agreement that is the subject of this current lawsuit) is also posted at the web site linked above. Notice that the 2nd amended agreement has no hand written changes although RR is now claiming that the $4 million liquidated damages clause really bothered him. During this line of questioning it was revealed that RR stopped using his lawyer for contract legal advice and started using Mike Brown for counsel even though Mike Brown is not a lawyer and had little experience with these matters. Nice move RR. Maybe he'll go to his auto mechanic if he ever needs heart surgery.

As for what RR has to hide, BB73 nailed it. Rita was in the room when the discussion of strategy to screw WVU out of $4 million took place with RR's present lawyers. That is the testimony that will ultimately come out of this after the judge orders Rita to testify.
 
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