Sports and the Law Report

Suit Filed Disputing Ownership of Bonds' 700th Home Run Ball

Suit has was filed against the man who came up with Bonds' 700th career home run ball in San Francisco Superior Court on the 28th by a man who claims the man who ended up with the ball illegally took the ball from underneath him after he sat on the ball when it entered the stands. For more, read this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Court of Arbitration for Sport Will Hear Appeal of Hamm Gold Medal Dispute

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear the appeal Monday from South Korean gymnast, Yang Tae-young, who believes he was unfairly deprived of the gold medal awared to Paul Hamm in the Olympic men's gymnastic all around competition, which alleges that Hamm was awarded the medal because of a scoring error.

ESPN Sued For Allegedly Stealing Real Time Sports Scores

Sportsnetwork.com filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York against ESPN for allegedly stealing its minor legal baseball scores. ESPN said it will continue to use factual information from sportsnetwork for end of inning updates, but that it would not take any real time data any longer.

-Rob Hagy, Attorney
Editor, Sports and the Law Report

Supreme Court Declines Ravens Logo Suit

The Supreme Court refused to settle a $10 million dollar suit between an artist who claimed he designed the NFL Baltimore Ravens "Raven" logo. A jury has already determined that the artist was not entitled to a share of the team's profits from logo merchandise.

-Rob Hagy, Attorney
Editor, Sports and the Law Report

Western Kentucky Brings Infringement Action in Italian Court

Western Kentucky University filed a $250 million dollar suit in an Italian court this week against Mediaset for infringing on WKU's copyright by copying WKU's sports mascot on an Italian talk show produced by Mediaset.

-Rob Hagy, Attorney and Counselor at Law
Editor, Sports and the Law Report

Ali Calls for U.S. Boxing Commission

On Thursday, Muhammad Ali testified before a congressional hearing through his wife, who read his testimony, and asked that Congress created a U.S. Boxing Commission to protect boxers from injury and exploitation.

Ali was testifiying in support of legislation authored by Senator John McCain which would create a three-person commission -- appointed by the president -- to license boxers, managers, promoters and sanctioning organizations;limpose uniform health and safety standards; establish a centralized medical registry; provide uniform ranking criteria and contractual guidelines. The bill has passed the Senate but no action on it is expected in the House this year.

Good for Ali. While some of the all time great sports figures shy away really asserting themselves on behalf of social, political, economic, or even issues critical to their own sports, Ali has never backed away from any such controversey. If any sport needs greater oversight, it is boxing. I'm glad to see Ali at the forefront of a movement for reform. It will be hard for hard for Congress to turn down the "Greatest".

Ali has already lent support to other noteworthy federal boxing legislation, including the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000.

Separating Girls Soccer Seasons Implicates Title IX

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in the case of McCormick v. The School District of Mamaroneck and the School District of Pelham that spring scheduling of their soccer season violated Title IX's prohibition on unequal treatment where the girls were denied the opportunity to compete for regional and state championships held in the fall when the overwhelming majority of the other public schools in New York hold girls soccer season.

-Rob Hagy, Editor
Sports and the Law Report

Trial Date Set for NHL's Bertuzzi

Last week a court in Vancouver, British Columbia set NHL star Todd Bertuzzi's trial date for Wednesday January 17. Bertuzzi who is charged with assault, has pled not guilty . Bertuzzi, as everyone who follows hockey will remember, skated up behind Colorado Avalance player Steve Moore during a game last March and hit him in the back of the head resulting in a broken neck. The NHL suspended Bertuzzi indefinetly following the shocking incident.

Jeff Mogan - Contributing Author - Sports and the Law Report

The Kobe Bryant Case: The Saga Is Over....

Unless you've been living under a rock during the last week, you are probably aware that the criminal sexual assault charges against Kobe Bryant were dropped by the Eagle County Colorado District Attorney's office on Wednesday, September 1, 2004. According to nearly all published reports, Bryant's accuser indicated to the DA that she was no longer willing to cooperate as a witness in the case. In my opinion, this left the DA will little choice but to dismiss the charges. While a witness can be compelled to testify, resorting to that during a jury trial in a criminal sexual assault case where a consent defense would have been a ridiculous last resort for the prosecution. I have to say that I suspected the prosecution was on its heels somewhat from the outset of the case. The first sign of trouble came when the Eagle County Sheriff's Office arrested Bryant in connection with the alleged assault without even consulting with Eagle County Colorado DA Mark Hurlbert. Law enforcement officials do not always consult with the prosecuting attorney before filing charges in cases like this, but where a high profile athlete is involved, I would say the failure to do so by the sheriff's department was ill-advised. If they case had been referred to Hurlbert first, I would like to think that Hurlbert would have questioned the victim about her sexual activities before and after her encounter with Bryant. The early discovery of such information may have kept the charges from being pursued thus saving all parties involved the stress, expense and embarassement involved with the case. Instead, once the arrest occurred, the die was cast and a series of legal manuevers by the defense (victorious motions practice resulting in the admission of evidence of the victim's sexual activities just before and after her encounter with Bryant) and some information mismanagement by the court system (posting her name on the court web site and incorrectly releasing an unredacted court transcript to a news organization) exposed the victim to even more scrutiny than a victim in such a high profile case might otherwise be expected to experience. This ulitimately led the collapse of the prosecution's case.

-Rob Hagy, Attorney and Counselor at Law
Editor, Sports and the Law Report