(Photo courtesy of NBC Sports)
Remember when Nick Diaz‘s legal team filed suit last week, claiming that the Nevada State Athletic Commission had acted improperly in handling his failed drug test and ensuing proceedings, and that they now no longer have jurisdiction over their client’s case? Well, the state of Nevada disagrees. After Diaz’s lawyer Ross C. Goodman referenced a “summary suspension” in their paperwork last week, Nevada’s Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto wrote Goodman to explain that, in legal terms, he doesn’t know what he’s talking ’bout. MMA Fighting has the report:
“‘No Notice of Summary Suspension was ever served on your client,’ Masto wrote. ‘In this matter, Mr. Diaz was properly served with a Notice of Hearing on Temporary Suspension and he failed to appear at the hearing. The Commission temporarily suspended Mr. Diaz’s license at the hearing. Neither Mr. Diaz nor you objected in any manner to the temporary suspension.’”
“The letter effectively indicates that because Diaz was not given a ‘summary suspension,’ his case does not fall under Nevada code NRS 233B.127, which requires a hearing within 45 days. A separate code, NRS 467.117, indicates that the commission can ‘continue the suspension until it makes a final determination of any disciplinary action to be taken against the licensee or holder of the permit’.”
The letter also indicates that the NSAC delay in scheduling Diaz’s hearing was partially his fault, caused while waiting for him to produce his medical marijuana card.
“I’ve waited for more than a month for the card,” Masto wrote.
So, Diaz’s team is saying that Nevada lost their chance at deciding the fighter’s fate because they have not held a hearing within 45 days, in violation of Nevada code NRS 233B.127, which dictates what happens under summary suspension. But that’s not even an applicable argument, according to the Nevada Attorney General. In summation, Diaz is saying to the NSAC “you can’t tell me what to do!”, and the state of Nevada is saying, “yes we can.”
Time will tell which side the circuit court that Diaz filed suit in will take. The court will hear Diaz’s motion for an injunction against the NSAC’s suspension (that the NSAC says doesn’t exist), on May 14th.