Нью-Йоркийн шүүх 2017 онд тоглолтын үеэр хамгаалалтынхантай маргалдсан Чарльз Оклигийн танхайрсан гэх нэхэмжлэлийг батлах нотлох баримтгүй гэж үзэн Мэдисон Сквер Гардены талд шийдвэрээ гаргав.
Нью-Йорк Никсийн домогт тоглогч асан Чарльз Окли 2017 онд Лос Анжелес Клипперсийн эсрэг хийсэн тоглолтын үеэр багийн эзэн Жэймс Доланы ойролцоо сууж байхдаа хамгаалалтынхантай маргалдан баривчлагдаж байсан юм. Үүний дараа Окли Мэдисон Сквер Гардены эсрэг хэд хэдэн нэхэмжлэл гаргасны ихэнх нь 2020 оны хоёрдугаар сард хэрэгсэхгүй болсон ч халдлагад өртсөн гэх заалт үлдээд байв.
Өмнөд дүүргийн шүүгч Ричард Ж.Салливан Оклиг хамгаалалтын ажилтнууд зодсон гэх нэхэмжлэлээ нотлох ямар ч баримт гаргаагүй гэж дүгнэжээ. Шүүх хуралдааны явцад олон өнцгөөс авсан дүрс бичлэг болон гэрчүүдийн мэдүүлэг нь Оклиг тухайн газраас гарах боломжтой байсан ч хүч хэрэглэсэн, мөн түүнийг газар унагасан гэх баримт байхгүй болохыг харуулсан байна.
Мэдисон Сквер Гарден мэдэгдэлдээ Оклигийн өмгөөлөгчид сүүлийн есөн жилийн турш худал нэхэмжлэл гаргаж, шүүхийн тогтолцоог буруугаар ашигласан гэж үзэн тэдний эсрэг хуулийн дагуу арга хэмжээ авахаа илэрхийлжээ. Оклигийн өмгөөлөгч Дуглас Уигдор шүүхийн шийдвэрт сэтгэл дундуур байгаагаа илэрхийлж, хэргийг дахин хянаж, тангарагтны шүүхээр оруулах хүсэлтэй байгаагаа мэдэгдлээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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NEW YORK (AP) — A judge sided with Madison Square Garden in its lengthy legal battle with Charles Oakley on Friday, saying that the former New York Knicks All-Star had not proven he was assaulted when he was removed from a game he attended in 2017.
Oakley was handcuffed and arrested after an altercation with security while sitting near owner James Dolan during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Oakley initially brought a number of claims against MSG that were dismissed in February 2020. After appeal, Oakley’s assault-and-battery claim remained.
But Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the Southern District of New York ruled that Oakley “has produced no evidence to support his claim that he was assaulted by MSG security guards.”
MSG had pointed to video evidence and previous testimony that Oakley was not assaulted.
“For more than nine years, Mr. Oakley’s lawyers have pursued claims they knew were false. Those claims have now been dismissed by the Court in their entirety — for the third time,” MSG said in a statement. “We are pursuing legal action against Douglas Wigdor, and his unscrupulous law firm, to hold them accountable for years of frivolous litigation and their blatant abuse of the judicial system.”
Oakley was a beloved Knicks forward in the 1990s, and he remains one of the few former players who has remained absent from MSG during the team’s recent playoff runs, culminating with this year’s NBA championship.
His removal from the game was a jarring scene, but Sullivan ruled that Oakley hadn’t proven it was done with excessive force.
“Ample evidence — including videos from multiple angles and the unanimous testimony of every witness (even, to some extent, Oakley himself) — shows that Oakley had a reasonable opportunity to depart the Garden, that he instead resorted to physical violence, and that he was never pushed to the ground,” Sullivan wrote.
The judge added that “no rational jury could conclude that Oakley reasonably feared himself at risk of wrongful physical contact — let alone that MSG intended to stir such an apprehension.”
Wigdor still hopes a jury will get a chance to rule.
“We are disappointed with the Court’s rulings,” he wrote in an email. “We believe there are conflicting accounts and only a jury can decide what exactly happened. We are hopeful that the Second Circuit will agree for a third time and remand the case for an immediate jury trial.”
