The attorneys for both Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis are calling a judge's limits on the upcoming civil trial a win for their respective sides. US District Judge Christopher Cooper set some ground rules for the 2018 case, which will decide a $100 million question: did Armstrong defraud the US Postal Service by doping?
Landis originally started the suit in 2010 under the False Claims Act which allows citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government to file action on its behalf, and if successful, gain from 15-25 per cent of any damages awarded. The government joined the case in 2013 after Armstrong confessed to doping.
The legal arguments boiled down to whether or not the value of the US Postal Service sponsorship outstripped the damage done by the scandal.
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The judge gave Armstrong's attorneys satisfaction by preventing government witnesses from testifying that the US Postal Service gained zero benefit from its sponsorship. They have long argued that the agency gained more value in marketing exposure than the total sponsorship package.
Armstrong's witnesses can also testify that doping was so rampant in cycling at the time that the US Postal Service should have known or knew he was cheating and sponsored the team anyhow. They can also question Landis' credibility.
"We think it's great. The court says very clearly the government cannot pursue that the sponsorship had no value because of team doping. They have to prove damages to Postal Service after 2013 and Lance's confession," Armstrong attorney Elliot Peters said, according to the Associated Press.
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