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[/quote]Panel may urge penalties tossed in doping case
Attorneys argue for due process

BY BOB JORDAN
STAFF WRITER

Attorneys for prominent harness-racing horseman Eric Ledford and four associates said they expect an administrative law judge to recommend that state regulators throw out the license suspensions and fines levied in April as part of an investigation into the blood-doping of horses.

Deputy Attorney General Julie Barnes presented no witnesses or evidence at the appeal hearing before Judge Dennis Blake on Wednesday. Barnes told the judge that officials with the state Division of Criminal Justice are planning to conduct a grand jury presentation and "do not want to compromise any aspect of the criminal matter."

Blake said he will make his formal recommendation to the state Racing Commission next week. The commission can reject, modify or accept the recommendation within 45 days. Ledford's representative, Howard Taylor, and attorneys for the other four horsemen said if the sanctions aren't ultimately lifted, they would likely seek relief in the state appellate court.

Ledford, a star driver at Freehold Raceway and the Meadowlands Racetrack, received a 10 1/2-year suspension and was fined $12,000 by the Racing Commission. His father, Seldon Ledford, who was represented at the hearing by attorney Timothy M. Donohue, received identical penalties.

Also punished were stable employees Ryan Dailey and his wife, Ardena Dailey, and veterinarian John Witmer. The Daileys received suspensions of eight years and fines of $10,000 each. Witmer was suspended for seven years and fined $7,500. Their attorneys, respectively, are Joseph D. Rotella, Joseph Rubino and Alton D. Kenney.

The five were arrested March 31 by State Police on race-fixing charges that included allegations of blood-doping horses after a raid at a barn at Showplace Farms, Millstone Township, and a sweep at the home of the Daileys.

Taylor and Donohue noted at the hearing Wednesday that different jurisdictions that regulate harness racing have reciprocity agreements, meaning that a New Jersey suspension is honored by other states and Canada.

"They're suspended everywhere," Taylor said. "They can't work."

Kenney called the process and sanctions by the Racing Commission "a complete denial of due process."

At disciplinary hearings conducted by a Racing Commission panel at Freehold Raceway in April, State Police Detective Sgt. Brice Cote testified that authorities had been working on the case for 18 months.

Rotella said the statement by Cote and the ensuing time lapse has led him to believe that authorities will be unable to make a grand jury investigation because the case isn't strong enough.

"Now it's up to that they've had over 20 months to do it, and they may never do it, all while they're depriving our clients of the ability to work," Rotella said.

Barnes said Cote's appearance at the hearing was necessary for her to argue that the sanctions should be upheld.

"The New Jersey Racing Commission was prepared to present the testimony of Brice Cote for this matter. However, we have been advised by the Division of Criminal Justice that they will not allow Detective Cote to testify," Barnes told Burke. "Therefore we do not have a witness to provide for the court at this time, so as to not compromise any aspect of the criminal matter before it's presented to the grand jury."

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