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Wednesday, March 8, 2000
Charged with assault
McSorley has April 4 court date for stick attack
Ex-Edmonton Oiler Marty McSorley is to head to court to defend himself against an assault charge filed yesterday in British Columbia after whacking Vancouver Canucks forward Donald Brashear with his stick.
McSorley, a Boston Bruin currently suspended from playing by the NHL, is to make his first court appearance April 4 in Vancouver provincial court on a charge of assault with a weapon.
McSorley is the first NHL player since 1988 to face a criminal charge resulting from his actions in a hockey game.
That year, Minnesota North Stars forward Dino Ciccarelli was sentenced by an Ontario court to a day in jail and fined $1,000 for striking ex-Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Luke Richardson several times in the head with his stick
McSorley, a rugged veteran, was charged as a result of a stick attack on Brashear, who suffered a concussion, Feb. 21 in Vancouver. The charge carries a maximum 18-month jail sentence.
Bill Daly, the NHL's chief legal officer, said the league co-operated with cops but would prefer to police its own players.
"As we stated at the time the suspension was imposed, we believe the league dealt with the matter quickly, decisively and appropriately - and did not feel that any further action was either warranted or necessary," he said in a release.
A statement yesterday by Austin Cullen, a spokesman for the B.C. Attorney General's criminal justice branch, read: "The decision to charge Mr. McSorley was made following a thorough review of the available evidence by (the Crown)."
The case will hinge on the question of implied consent, which means "Do hockey players expect to get roughed up when they hit the ice?" said city criminal lawyer Ed O'Neill.
The question the court has to decide is whether McSorley went too far when he hit Brashear.
One of the first cases of hockey fights going to court involved Edmonton Oilers assistant coach Ted Green when he played for Boston in 1969.
Green and Wayne Maki of St. Louis got into a stick battle that ended with Green suffering a fractured skull. Both were charged and later acquitted of assault.
"It's not unprecedented," O'Neill said. "The Maki and Green case may well have been one of the first."
Another issue may involve finding an uncontaminated jury to hear the case, given the fact that the incident has been repeatedly aired on national television, said defence lawyer Mona Duckett. "How is (the court) going to find somebody who hasn't seen this?"
Hockey fans wondered whether the law was reaching into territory best left to referees. "What happens inside a hockey arena stays inside a hockey arena," said John Mossman, a patron at Mo's Sports Parlour, 5420 Calgary Tr.
"That guy (Brashear) should've had his helmet done up better," he added. "No way they should've charged (McSorley)."
- With files from The Canadian Press
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