I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.
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FROM VALIDATION TO VINDICATION: MAKING MAJOR HEADWAY IN MY FIRST OFFICIAL COURT HEARING
By: Rich Bergeron
Today was a historic moment for Fight News Unlimited. I appeared by telephone in Clark County District Court before Judge Timothy Williams in what proved to be an incredible turn of events for my case. I can definitively say now that perhaps I might have been a little too cynical about the judge in this case. Although he chewed me out a bit in the end for trying to push my luck, Judge Timothy Williams today represented himself with a great degree of fairness and finally seemed to see through the facade of Xyience's frivolous case against me.
The buzz surrounding this case and the whole Xyience saga has truly exploded in recent days, putting this issue into the public spotlight where it truly belongs. For so long this story has unfolded with documents, a recording here or there, and blog after blog exploring the depth of what's turning out to be a spectacular and intriguing scandal. Connecting the dots over the course of more than a year now, I have come to the conclusion that the ramifications of this situation could possibly lead to an international news story that will shock the entire mixed martial arts landscape.
Catapulting this issue from rhetoric to raw reality, today's hearing represented the principles of free speech and due process coming together to produce pure magic. While weak on the procedural points of law involved in this case, I emerged in triumph from my first attempt at practicing law in a public forum as a pro se defendant. I also came to the point where I am confident now that I finally have more of a grip on the importance of those tiny nuances of process that can make or break a big case.
Clearly, though, sanity and logic ruled the day. The judge himself summed it up best when he told the Xyience attorney that this case was going to ultimately be decided on the merits. For once it was Xyience's $300 an hour attorney left wondering why she couldn't make any headway whatsoever. I can't say for sure because I wasn't physically there in the courtroom, but I sensed a bit of raw emotion from Pamela Lawson, Esquire of Hunterton and Associates today. Having to use my imagination to gauge her state of mind when the dust finally settled, I would not have been surprised at all if she shed a tear or two on her way home today. As I've done time and again with this case, I made a bold prediction before the proceedings today in an email I sent to Attorney Lawson a few days ago telling her I couldn't wait to beat a slick lawyer at her own game.
Her day's work will likely cost Xyience more than $900, which is as far as I can see a clear indication that maybe I'm in the wrong business. Maybe I need to start studying to take the bar exam myself and start my own firm called Lawsuits Unlimited. I have to admit I get most of my background knowledge from watching Law and Order marathons, but I also made sure to painstakingly examine the tenets of the First Amendment and the plethora of precedents that protect the press in situations like this one.
I also have a keen sense of confidence in the idea that the truth will always shine through. I am still motivated by the fighters more than anything. Looking back and ahead, they will be the ones who have had to suffer much more than I have thus far. Not only the ones who step in the octagon to battle for sport and got stiffed on sponsorships, but also now the hordes of investors who now have to fight for their stake in Xyience through complicated, drawn out lawsuits that may never really promote any tangible justice at all.
I get the sense that the tide is turning and that there is hope moving forward. It is a funny feeling I'm experiencing for the first time since the beginning of the case when I had just scratched off the surface layer of this scandal. Back then I had only just begun to reveal the corrupt motivations of the major movers and shakers bringing the whole organization down to their crude, careless, and selfish level.
The recording above speaks for itself, but I would be remiss if I didn't thank everyone who helped me out along the way and fought from day one with me for the same principles I've always believed would provide me saving grace. Zach Arnold and Adam Swift in particular followed my lead and went out on a limb with their own highly intellectual reports and analysis of the situation here that's still unfolding and morphing into a more and more ugly monster. Those who I can't mention know who they are, too. Without your insider knowledge and your trust that I would do the right thing with it, none of this would have come to this full circle point.
Finally getting the tightest possible handle on the truth has always been more important than any praise or recognition this effort might lead to for me. The greatest glory I could hope for in this will come when my case becomes the standard bearer for American bloggers in every locale who choose to fight the crooked system no matter what the odds.
This is for the folks who choose to do the right thing rather than cower in the face of corporations and lawyers out to crush the truth and paint would be whistleblowers in a criminal light. Let the reverberations of the final determination of this case ring forever in the ears of those cowering critics who shot from the hip in denouncing my work as conspiracy theory ranting. Let them eat their words with a side of humble pie. There may still be a lot of ground to cover before this juggernaut of a judicial fraud finally crumbles under the big fat foot of justice, but today I think I was able to shine the spotlight on the ugly underbelly of American greed. I just hope enough people choose to take a good hard look at why this all happened when the smoke clears in the end. If just a few people out there who've been following this incredible saga come away with the sense that looking the other way solves nothing and action trumps apathy, I've done my job.
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