# Criminal Charges in Sporting Events **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2002, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079 "2002-10-20T07:13:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/1 "2002-10-20T07:13:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![parkov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71e660/32.png) [@parkov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parkov)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/2 "2002-10-20T07:22:39Z")
Marty McSorley [http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2000/0307/406595.html](http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2000/0307/406595.html) ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/3 "2002-10-20T07:26:54Z")
[http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/hockey000807.html](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/hockey000807.html) [http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2000/0307/406595.html](http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2000/0307/406595.html) [http://janus.northatlantic.nf.ca/~cc964247/Charges.html](http://janus.northatlantic.nf.ca/~cc964247/Charges.html) ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/4 "2002-10-20T07:46:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/5 "2002-10-20T12:00:03Z")
> [@](#): > > In 1985, Hawthorn’s Leigh Matthews became the first player in the Victorian Football League (predecessor of the AFL) to be charged with assault after he broke the jaw of Geelong’s Neville Bruns behind play. > > Matthews, now the coach of Brisbane, was convicted and fined $1000, but was given a good behaviour bond on appeal. [from [here](http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/13/1029113928883.html) ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/6 "2002-10-20T17:41:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dada321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dada321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dada321)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/7 "2002-10-20T18:04:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/8 "2002-10-21T02:45:14Z")
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://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002kPh) [http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/basketball000310.html](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/basketball000310.html) ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminal-charges-in-sporting-events/133079/9 "2002-10-21T19:17:14Z")
Slight detour (regarding potential civil tort liability for such conduct): [http://www.fmew.com/archive/rough/](http://www.fmew.com/archive/rough/)