by Mark Vester
According to multiple reports, Shane Mosley has ended his defamation suit against BALCO lab founder Victor Conte, which ends a legal battle that lasted for over 2-1/2 years. The $12 million dollar suit was quietly dismissed last week. A document filed on Friday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan states the case was "voluntarily dismissed with prejudice and without costs, disbursements or attorney's fees to any party against another." A case dismissed with prejudice cannot be re-filed. Mosley's attorney has refused comment when contacted by various media outlets.
The lawsuit stemmed from Mosley's dealings with Conte prior to the 2003 rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, which Mosley won by twelve round decision. In the summer of 2003, Mosley bought $1,850 worth of performance enhancing drugs from Conte's BALCO lab in California. At the time the drugs were undetectable. Mosley had always claimed that Conte never made him aware that he was injecting illegal PEDs.
In 2008, Mosley began his lawsuit after Conte made public comments through the press that Mosley was fully aware of the illegal nature involved with the drugs he was injecting. In the suit, Mosley was claiming that Conte misled him and made him believe that he was injecting high-end vitamins. During the course of their lawsuit, Conte presented several pieces of evidence, including "doping calendars" that he created for Mosley to follow.
It's not the first victory for Conte. In 2004, Conte fought off a $25 million dollar defamation suit from sprinter Marion Jones, who claimed to have never used BALCO's products. Jones would eventually admit to using BALCO's products and went to prison.
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