Dodgers say Stow and his assailants partly responsible for beating

[RandySF]

In Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s continuing bid to be named the most hated man in sports (nay, the world), the attorney representing him and the Dodgers have filed a civil complaint alleging that they are not at sole fault for the assault on Giants fan Bryan Stow.

The Stow family, who earlier filed a separate suit against the Dodgers, claims that the organization should take responsibility for the lax security environment which facilitated the Opening Day attack on Stow. McCourt and Co. are firing back by saying that the men arrested for the attack, Marvin Norwood and Louis Sanchez, should really be the target of the blame.

But here’s where it enters murkier territory.

Although the civil complaint puts most of the onus on Stow’s attackers, McCourt’s attorney Jerome Jackson also insinuated that Stow owns some of the blame. In an interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com, Jackson said that he’d “been doing these cases for 23 years and I have never seen one yet in which it didn’t take at least two people to tango.”

http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2011/10/27/dodgers-say-stow-responsible-for-beating/?tsp=1

[bayareamike]

1. Classy. n/t

[kestrel91316]

2. Jerome "Blame-the-victim" Jackson is a piece of human waste.

[Scuba]

3. It's not clear to me that McCourt should be held accountable ....

... for a crime committed by others. If somebody hid in your bushes and jumped the newspaper carrier, is that your fault?

That said, blaming Stow is sewer sludge.

[RandySF]

4. It's been reported that

The Dodgers cut back on parking lot security.

[Scuba]

5. I'm still not sure it matters....

... I don't see how the Dodgers have legal liability for crimes committed by others.


They do have lots deeper pockets than the two thugs.

[ellisonz]

7. They also eliminated uniformed police officers from the stadium in 2009...

It's not a 'perception issue' that Dodgers eliminated uniformed police officers at stadium in 2009
April 16, 2011 | 7:39 am
By Steve Dilbeck

Security has become a bigger issue with the Dodgers than their lack of offensive power, and now a new story in The Times by Joel Rubin shows that the Dodgers eliminated having uniformed police at Dodger Stadium two years ago. That’s two years before the brutal attack of a Giants fan on opening day.

------

Charlie Beck comes off as a bright man, but he seems out of touch with what’s actually going on inside the stadium. It’s not just the violent crimes, but the general abusive fan behavior and foul language. I invite him to wear an opposing team’s jersey and sit in a few of the sections and then come back and report how the stadium problems are just a perception issue.

Officers told Rubin that when the Dodgers hired them to work in blue polo shirts, an intimidation factor was lost. And the situation was compounded by an increasing presence of gang members at games over the last several years.

"I lasted two games," said one LAPD officer, who stayed on briefly at the stadium after uniforms were eliminated. "It was crazy. These gangbangers would be drunk, defiant, cursing us out when we tried to kick them out. They had no idea we were cops. We had no leverage on them. There is no authority in a polo shirt."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2011/04/its-not-a-perception-issue-that-the-dodgers-eliminated-uniformed-police-officers-at-stadium-in-2009.html

Meanwhile...

MLB accuses Frank McCourt of 'looting' $189 million from Dodgers
As the bankruptcy case moves forward, a slew of court filings on Monday show that beating victim Bryan Stow will be central to the arguments and outcome in court.

By Bill Shaikin

October 25, 2011, 2:22 a.m.
For the first time, Major League Baseball put a specific number on the amount it alleges Dodgers owner Frank McCourt took out of the team -- $189.16 million -- and described the distributions as "looting."

----

The league argued that McCourt's problems are of his own making, claiming he "fabricates an absurd story about a 'furious' commissioner out to harm him."

The league alleged McCourt had broken 10 MLB rules -- any of them grounds for termination of his franchise -- including what MLB termed the "siphoning" of team revenue for non-baseball use.

"The Dodgers are in bankruptcy because McCourt has taken almost $190 million out of the club and has completely alienated the Dodgers' fan base," the MLB filing read.

In the filing, the league claimed McCourt funneled $73 million in parking revenue through Blue Land Co., a non-team related entity; used $61.16 million in team revenue to pay off personal debts; and took $55 million from team revenue for personal distributions.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-mccourt-bankruptcy-20111025,0,5183203.story

Piss off Frank McCourt! You do a disservice to Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson and the great history of the Dodgers Organization!

This Dodger fan is :mad:

[Upton]

9. McCourt allowed Dodger Stadium to become a haven for gangsters

and thugs..

Over the last five or six years under McCourt's ownership, the LAPD sources say, cheap ticket prices promoted in some sections, including outfield pavilions, helped add to the number of thugs and gang members. It wasn't long before the 18th Street Gang and others became a more prominent presence, operating with the knowledge that a typical penalty for bad behavior was merely "getting kicked out," one of the LAPD sources says.

"We got the gang elements in five or six years ago, when the McCourts had the admissions and lowered prices in the pavilion. It started getting crappy ... the gangsters knew not arrests were being made, and that they'd just get ejected," the LAPD source says.

http://www.laweekly.com/2011-04-14/news/cleaning-out-dodger-stadium/

[Scuba]

10. Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye (my eyes, anyway). Thanks. n/t

[ellisonz]

6. Frank McCourt is done for. Stick a fork in him.

DODGERS BANKRUPTCY
Trial postponement could lead to sale of Dodgers by Frank McCourt
The one-month postponement of the bankruptcy trial will allow McCourt and Major League Baseball to explore a possible settlement in which he sells the team, several people familiar with situation say.



Dodgers owner Frank McCourt may be exploring a settlement with Major League Baseball that would see him sell the team. (Jason Redmond / Associated Press / September 14, 2011)

By Bill Shaikin

October 26, 2011, 10:32 p.m.
The Dodgers' bankruptcy trial has been postponed for one month so Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball can explore a possible settlement under which McCourt would agree to sell the team, multiple people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

McCourt discussed a potential settlement with league officials Monday and Tuesday, said the people, none of whom were authorized to comment on the confidential talks. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross announced the postponement in a one-sentence order on Wednesday, without citing a reason for the delay.

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However, the settlement talks hit a snag when the league declined to guarantee McCourt a specific return for selling the team, one of the people said. The league, which already has loaned McCourt $150 million in bankruptcy financing, is not willing to subsidize his exit should the team sell for less than whatever figure he might ask MLB to guarantee, the person said.

-----

McCourt might need more than $1 billion just to break even after paying off debts, tax liabilities and his divorce settlement, based on interviews by The Times and an analysis of court records in California and Delaware.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-1027-dodgers-bankruptcy-20111027,0,2390406.story

Good Riddance to Frank and Jamie McForktongued!:mad:

[underpants]

8. "Baseball " is so screwed up- Selig lets this a-hat buy a crown jewel

with a credit card. Can't let Mark Cuban (who has money) have a franchise - no no no can't have that.

Oh and the credit card is based on the housing bubble :eyes:

[Initech]

11. Frank McCourt is one of the biggest douchebags in LA.