Criminal Charges in Sporting Events

Factual Questions
1

Has there ever been an instance of a foul in a professional sporting event so egregious that criminal charges were filed? I’m primarily thinking of something along the lines of football or boxing, with a late hit or cheap shot causing great injury, but I’d be interested in other sports/other circumstances as well.

Thanks.

2

Marty McSorley
http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2000/0307/406595.html

3

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/hockey000807.html

http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2000/0307/406595.html

http://janus.northatlantic.nf.ca/~cc964247/Charges.html

4

Numerous baseball players and managers were arrested in the 19th and early 20th centuries for violating laws about playing baseball on Sundays.

Carl Mays, who threw a pitch that killed Ray Chapman, the only onfield fatality in MLB history, was not charged with any crime in connection with it.

5
6

This has happened a couple times in soccer. The incident that springs to mind immediately is of Duncan Ferguson, at the time (1994) of Glasgow Rangers, who was arrested for head-butting an opposing player, and did about six weeks in prison.

7

I suspect we’ll be seeing less of this kind of thing in the NHL due to the latest crack down on violence in the sport.
I undestand that it’s now a 10 minute major AND a game mis-conduct for attempted murder.

8

This happened in my hometown a few years back when a player delivered a pretty vicious forearm during a highschool basketball game. What makes this story even worse is that the guy later gets elected “Most Popular” by his classmates even though he has a well publicized assault conviction as well as a previous attempted burgulary conviction.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002kPh

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/basketball000310.html

9

Slight detour (regarding potential civil tort liability for such conduct):

http://www.fmew.com/archive/rough/