Conte says Shane Mosley’s court victory may be followed by loss

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Shane Mosley‘s courtroom triumph when a judge last week dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against him by his former Pomona friend and conditioning coach Derryl Hudson may be followed by defeat in his effort to win damages against Victor Conte, the BALCO founder says.

Conte, in an e-mailed statement to The Times, noted that the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who dismissed Hudson’s lawsuit partly relied on a motion filed by Mosley’s team that his comments to reporters about his use of BALCO products -- designer steroids known as ‘the clear’ and ‘the cream’ and the energy-boosting substance EPO -- were not defamatory because they were made ‘in connection with an issue of public interest.’

Mosley had told reporters from news organizations including The Times that he believed the substances he took were ‘vitamins’ that Hudson had pressed him to take as ‘icing on the cake’ to his usual intense training regimen -- in preparation for his 2003 decision victory over Oscar De La Hoya.

Conte claims that Mosley’s attorney, Judd Burstein, essentially ‘cut and pasted’ Conte’s own anti-SLAPP (that stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion for dismissal that is pending in the boxer’s lawsuit against the BALCO founder. Mosley is suing Conte for saying publicly that Mosley knew he was taking performance-enhancing drugs.

‘The fact that Hudson’s case ... was dismissed means that Mosley’s case against me should be dismissed, too,’ Conte said in his statement.

Conte believes that his case has been strengthened by the recent public release of grand jury transcripts that show Mosley told BALCO investigators that he knew he was taking EPO and assumed that the ‘flaxseed oil’ he was told to call the steroids was ‘something else.’

‘Mosley can’t come into court now and claim he didn’t know what he was taking,’ Conte wrote. ‘Mosley will have a hard time arguing against the same arguments he has already made himself.’

Conte said he expected a ruling on his motion to dismiss in the next few months, and he’s additionally seeking that Mosley reimburse his legal fees.

-- Lance Pugmire

Photo (above, left): Victor Conte. Credit: David Paul Morris / Getty Images
Photo (right): Shane Mosley. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press