Postscript: The Ends Do Not Justify the Means in MLB's Current PED Investigation

I previously wrote that the ends do not justify the means in MLB's PED investigation, and that payments to witnesses for testimony are unethical.

Now, the New York State Bar Association has come out with Ethics Opinion 997 that reiterates that lawyers may not pay for witness testimony beyond reasonable time and expenses incurred by that witness (for some strange reason, purchasing physical evidence is now O.K. in New York).

So if it is true that MLB's lawyers participated in paying witnesses in the A-Rod case millions of dollars, and if the arbitrator allowed such testimony, what will happen to these lawyers and arbitrator?

We'll have to wait to see, but no matter how big or powerful, good trial lawyers know that if you have to pay for testimony, you don't have a case, and these ethics rules don't change, just because you want to bag a big bad fish.

Moreover, just like I predicted, this lawsuit was dropped by MLB once A-Rod capitulated, which proves that it was frivolous to begin with and designed solely to procure "evidence" that MLB otherwise could not have gained.

I'm sure that people feel as sorry for A-Rod as they do for Lance, but however good it feels to see these guys brought to justice so-to-speak, Justice is not done, when lawyers and arbitrators engage in illegal use of paid witness testimony, and everyone involved should be, at the very least, embarrassed, if not ashamed.