LNDD caught tampering with Landis evidence!!
Tony Raven
investigators arrived? How do you spell cover-up in French? Unbelievable!
Tony
CRITICAL LANDIS STAGE 17 EVIDENCE ERASED FROM HARD DRIVE AT LNDD,
ORIGINAL DATA DESTROYED
Landis Examines Legal Options, Including Appeal to Department of Justice
New York / Paris., April 29, 2007 – Simon Davis, technical director of
Mass Spec Solutions and expert consultant to Floyd Landis, today
reported that critical evidence stored as electronic data files (EDF)
had been erased from the hard drive and the original data destroyed at
the Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage (LNDD). The existing
data bears indication of alteration.
The EDFs are electronically preserved records of the Isotope Ratio Mass
Spectometry (IRMS) tests conducted on Landis’ Stage 17 samples. Davis
was at the LNDD last Thursday along with representatives from the United
States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to witness the extraction of the data
files by an independent expert tasked with retrieving and analyzing the
EDFs.
Originally run by the LNDD on outdated OS2 software, the Landis defense
team had first requested access to the original EDFs last December in
order to process them on more modern and accurate software.
Prior to the arrival of Davis and the independent expert on April 26,
the LNDD, under the authority of USADA, extracted the EDFs from the
machinery. The LNDD took the following steps in the absence of oversight
by the independent expert or Davis:
* The hard drive from the Isoprime OS2 machine had been “wiped” by
the LNDD and all of the original files destroyed, thereby providing no
way to verify the authenticity of the EDFs from Landis’ Stage 17 analysis.
* Relevant files for Landis’ Stage 17 sample analysis had been
opened and re-saved by the LNDD, corrupting the integrity of the files’
time stamp authentication and exposing the files to potential tampering.
The data concerning the Stage 17 “A” samples were re-saved on 1/30/2007.
Landis’ “B” sample data bore a time stamp of 4/26/07, 9:51 a.m. CET,
prior to the scheduled arrival of the independent expert and Davis later
that day.
* The altered EDFs from the Isoprime OS2 hard drive had been
removed by the LNDD and transferred to a CD-ROM.
* Other critical data from Stage 17 were missing from the files
copied to disk.
“Protecting and assuring electronic files are required by every
certifying laboratory authority, as the International Standards of
Laboratories clearly define,” said Arnie Baker, M.D., scientific advisor
to Landis’ defense team. “With the erasure of original evidence
contained on the hard drive, the lab simply cannot document its findings.”
In light of recent events at the LNDD, including the exclusion of
Landis’ experts during the recent re-testing of previously cleared
samples and the destruction of critical computer files, Floyd Landis is
considering an appeal to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ)
to investigate the use of Federal funds in the adjudication of his
anti-doping proceedings.
"Since the Federal Government is funding this and other proceedings at
USADA, it makes sense for them to be responsible for it," Landis said.
"Over the past few months, we have learned of disturbing facts regarding
the protection and production of key evidence in my case and I hope to
call on the DOJ to investigate the handling of this matter. I have every
confidence that they can determine if any misuse of federal funds and
any resulting criminal activity has taken place on the part of USADA in
my case."
"I find it highly suspicious that of all the files on the LNDD computer
equipment, only the data relating to my alleged positive shows signs of
potential tampering," Landis added. "It is my impression that USADA's
goal is to secure a conviction by any means available whereas the DOJ
will be more determined to arrive at the truth."
Landis is also examining a request for the Justice Department to review
whether USADA has violated criminal statutes in using Federal funds in
relation to the conduct that has occurred in this case. "Make no mistake
about it; I support tough anti-doping measures, enforcement and
education. But, if the Federal Government is going to fund the
adjudication of anti-doping actions, then the defendants in those cases
should be afforded the due process protections of anyone accused of a
crime in America. No more and certainly no less," Landis said. "Under
the USADA process, I have repeatedly been denied critical evidence, I
have been denied the opportunity to depose critical witnesses and I have
been denied a jury of my peers. Everything they have done, including
this continued denial of discovery, the retesting of already cleared
samples and the subsequent leak of scientifically unsupported results to
L’Equipe, simply reconfirms every contention that my team and I have
been making about USADA’s ‘win at all costs’ mentality. Their behavior
is nothing short of criminal."
--
Tony
"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell
Peter Clinch
> Data erased, data altered after a request for access and just before
> investigators arrived? How do you spell cover-up in French? Unbelievable!
It's not a cover up, because they were too Crap to actually cover
anything much up...
I would say the piece is rather badmouthing of OS/2, which might be "out
of date" according to the market but is not in itself "inaccurate" or
actually bad, but otherwise it's a bit like a kid with a mouth full of
chocolate cake spluttering he doesn't know what happened to the
chocolate cake...
Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.c...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
Simon Brooke
('ju...@raven-family.invalid') wrote:
[snip]
There's nothing especially wrong with OS/2, and it's highly unlikely that
any statistical or mathematical analysis of data could be done on any
other operating system which could not be done on OS/2. If the analysis
equipment used by LNDD is designed to interface with OS/2 there is nothing
in principle either wrong or surprising about that. So the OS/2 bit is
pure persiflage.
One would expect this data to be backed up to some non-volatile medium for
security. It is not in the least surprising that it has been backed up to
CD-ROM (although one would expect this to be done routinely as part of the
test protocol, and that the CD should be timestamped with the date of the
test). So the CD-ROM bit is persiflage.
If the machine is an old OS/2 box then its hard disk is likely to be quite
small, and if testing is done regularly it may well be necessary to delete
data from the hard disk from time to time. So the bit about the hard disk
being wiped is persiflage. If it is the case that Landis' data and only
Landis' data has been deleted then he has a complaint.
I'm not particularly surprised that senior staff at the lab would want to
check that the file opens OK just before they're going to have to
demonstrate this to outside experts, and I'm not utterly surprised that
management level staff are incompetent enough to re-save the file (this
is, after all, exactly why a non-volatile back up should have been made on
day one). So the bit about the changed file date looks like incompetence
rather than malice, and is in any case irrelevant provided there is an
audit trail of non-volatile backups (which Landis' team do not deny).
If the file dates are wrong, there should be an audit trail through the
non-volatile backups (precisely those CD-ROMs the Landis team are
complaining about). If that audit trail is incomplete or shows signs of
tampering, then Landis has a complaint. Otherwise, he's stirring.
If it is the case that doping is endemic in professional cycling, then a
jury of his peers would not convict him, guilty or not. So the talk about
a jury of his peers is special pleading.
Frankly, over the last several months I've been gradually swinging to the
view that the evidence against Landis is too tenuous. But after a bit of
deliberate water muddying like that above, I swing back towards the 'he's
guilty' camp. If he wasn't guilty, he wouldn't be muddying the water and
playing to the gallery the way he is (I agree with him that the behaviour
of ASO, UCI, LNDD and USADA has been disgraceful).
In summary, I'd convict Landis on the basis of that press release alone.
--
si...@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Diplomacy, American: see Intelligence, Military
David Martin
> in message <JomdnQFaBN6EOqjbRVny...@pipex.net>, Tony Raven
> Frankly, over the last several months I've been gradually swinging to the
> view that the evidence against Landis is too tenuous. But after a bit of
> deliberate water muddying like that above, I swing back towards the 'he's
> guilty' camp. If he wasn't guilty, he wouldn't be muddying the water and
> playing to the gallery the way he is (I agree with him that the behaviour
> of ASO, UCI, LNDD and USADA has been disgraceful).
>
> In summary, I'd convict Landis on the basis of that press release alone.
With due respect Simon, after reading the report posted by Tony and
working in a lab myself, what they have done is not a straight copy of
the data onto backup.
When these instruments run they create a raw data file. This is then
processed by an operator to produce a results file. Data from
different results files are then combined to complete the analysis
(OK, very crude overview). Each step in the process results in data
loss, and the precise settings used can materially alter the
interpretation of the raw data. It is essential that all the files
generated in the analysis are retained so that an independent assessor
can reproduce the original result, and assess the validity of that
result.
I agree that lambasting OS/2 and the removal of data to disk is
persiflage. However, it is the lack of an audit trail and the fact
that some essential files are missing which makes LNDD sound less
competent than the Chuckle brothers (awful kids TV show).
Unfortunately in a lot of institutions, backups are an aspiration,
rather than a reality. Especially of transient, relatively bulky data.
..d
Tony Raven
>
> Unfortunately in a lot of institutions, backups are an aspiration,
> rather than a reality. Especially of transient, relatively bulky data.
>
Any regulatory testing facility should have proper data provenance
management or not be in the business. And to not maintain that
provenance on what at the time the changes were made was well known to
be becoming one of their highest profile and most controversial cases
beggars belief. But LNDD are clearly so incompetent they couldn't even
do that competently.
I agree on OS/2 although given they had not installed any software
revisions for the equipment they were using nor had a users manual does
not bode well on this sort of analytical equipment. But as for the rest
being persiflage, I suspect Simon thinks the gaps in the Nixon tapes
were because it would be natural for someone to erase all the boring
bits on the tape so it could be reused for recording ;-)
bugbear
> in message <JomdnQFaBN6...@pipex.net>, Tony Raven
> ('ju...@raven-family.invalid') wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> There's nothing especially wrong with OS/2, and it's highly unlikely that
> any statistical or mathematical analysis of data could be done on any
> other operating system which could not be done on OS/2. If the analysis
> equipment used by LNDD is designed to interface with OS/2 there is nothing
> in principle either wrong or surprising about that. So the OS/2 bit is
> pure persiflage.
Well, I had to look it up, so the rest
of the group may as well have the link:
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/persiflage?view=uk
BugBear
Ziggy
The full OED gives:
"Light raillery or mockery; bantering talk; a frivolous or mildly
contemptuous manner of treating any subject."
Simon Brooke
('ju...@raven-family.invalid') wrote:
> David Martin wrote on 30/04/2007 14:45 +0100:
>>
>> Unfortunately in a lot of institutions, backups are an aspiration,
>> rather than a reality. Especially of transient, relatively bulky data.
>
> Any regulatory testing facility should have proper data provenance
> management or not be in the business.
Absolutely.
> And to not maintain that
> provenance on what at the time the changes were made was well known to
> be becoming one of their highest profile and most controversial cases
> beggars belief. But LNDD are clearly so incompetent they couldn't even
> do that competently.
>
> I agree on OS/2 although given they had not installed any software
> revisions for the equipment they were using nor had a users manual does
> not bode well on this sort of analytical equipment. But as for the rest
> being persiflage, I suspect Simon thinks the gaps in the Nixon tapes
> were because it would be natural for someone to erase all the boring
> bits on the tape so it could be reused for recording ;-)
Not at all. I would expect any analysis data - especially for a case which
has not yet been determined - to be securely backed up, with a clear audit
trail. And if it isn't, then I agree with David - LNDD are a mickey mouse
operation who should not be in business.
--
si...@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; "If I were a Microsoft Public Relations person, I would probably
;; be sobbing on a desk right now" -- Rob Miller, editor, /.
Mark Thompson
> deliberate water muddying like that above, I swing back towards the 'he's
> guilty' camp. If he wasn't guilty, he wouldn't be muddying the water and
> playing to the gallery the way he is
I thought the same, but then assumed that he'd have got someone in to spin
his case to the media - after his performance in the days after the
accusations he obviously needed some pointers. All this is prolly their
doing.
David Martin
It is essential for him that his case doesn't just get swept under the
carpet, that he keeps enough interest in it that the authorities are
held properly to account. Unfortunately that means involving the
fourth estate. A few knowledgeable scientists will not be able to
fight battles against powerful vested interests without some sort of
backup.
>From what I have seen so far, the accusations of doping are unsafe
technically. And unless they can prove beyond reasonable doubt (and as
an analytical scientist what I have seen so far looks inconsistent and
unsafe) then he should be exonerated.
Note that I don't necessarily believe him to be innocent, nor guilty.
Just that there is little consistent solid evidence to safely say he
is guilty.
As to backups etc. Yes there are ideals. Yes there should be proper
paper trails. Yes there should be accreditation. The key word is
should. Would France let their premier doping lab be stripped of it's
accreditation? What kind of political fallout would that give?
..d