Man found guilty of punching Artest during Palace brawl

[spurs=bling]

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The man accused of sparking the brawl between players and fans at The Palace of Auburn Hills in 2004 was convicted of assault Monday for punching Ron Artest.

John Green was acquitted, however, of throwing a cup at Artest -- who was playing for the Pacers at the time -- before the forward charged into the stands and began fighting with Detroit Pistons fans.

Green was the last person with a case pending after the brawl, one of the worst in U.S. sports history.

He faces up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. Sentencing was scheduled for May 1.

The 41-year-old contractor chewed gum and showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. Green and his attorney, Shawn Patrick Smith, said afterward that they would appeal on grounds that Artest was not present for the trial.

"(That) he didn't show up is a violation of my Sixth Amendment constitutional right to have him here," Green said of Artest, traded by Indiana to the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 25.




"The judge wouldn't force (prosecutors) to bring him here," said Smith, who did not call any witnesses.

Assistant Prosecutor John Pietrofesa said Artest's testimony wasn't needed.

"Mr. Artest's presence was going to do nothing but add a travel bill for Oakland County," he said.

The jury deliberated about 2 1/2 hours. The three men and three women declined to speak with reporters afterward.

The fighting began after Detroit's Ben Wallace shoved Artest following a hard foul. They were separated, and Artest lay back on the scorer's table where he was hit with a beverage. He rushed into the stands and began beating a man he apparently thought had thrown the drink. Some of his teammates joined him in the stands and clashed with fans on the court.

Referees called the game with 45.9 seconds left and the Pacers leading 97-82.

Artest and Pacers teammates Anthony Johnson, David Harrison, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson were among those charged. Each one pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and battery and was sentenced to probation and community service.

The NBA suspended Artest for the remainder of the season and handed down shorter suspensions to all the others except Harrison.

Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton said Green intentionally threw the cup and that it was all caught on videotape. But Smith said his client never meant to hit Artest with the cup. And he said Green was defending another man after Artest went into the stands.

[word]

" He faces up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. "

For punching Ron Artest ? Worth every penny and minute.

[Pistons < Spurs]

" He faces up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. "

For punching Ron Artest ? Worth every penny and minute.

No SHIT! What line do I need to stand in to get my shot at him?

[spurs=bling]

No SHIT! What line do I need to stand in to get my shot at him?

and while you are at it, go ahead and punch some refs K.

[ObiwanGinobili]

he chewed gum in court? uh yeah. WTG be a friggin grown up.


of course i'd be willign to pay alot morethan $500 to punch Ron Artest.

[mikejones99]

That fucker should get a year in prison and at least a $10,000 fine. What bullshit and they didn't even punish him for throwing the cup cause he said he wasn't trying to hit him. What a bullshit racist justice system.

[Darrin]

Thank Fucking God. Lock him up and throw away the key. He's a disgrace.

[Darrin]

he chewed gum in court? uh yeah. WTG be a friggin grown up.


of course i'd be willign to pay alot morethan $500 to punch Ron Artest.

I'd line up to punch the fan, not the player. Said player, isn't worth my time or energy. Dude wanted to prove to everyone he's a hardass so fans would stop messing with him, create a thug reputation that would carry over to his music career, and for a bonus, get suspended 10 games after he was denied voluntary time off. Said player isn't worth my time.

The fan gave him the ability to do that.

[jochhejaam]

Thank Fucking God. Lock him up and throw away the key. He's a disgrace.
I agree with you Darrin that he's a disgrace but I don't think Green should serve more time than the Pacers players that landed some serious punches (Harrison and O'Neal) and they served no time.

Green hit Artest with a rabbit punch that barely got Ron's attention, Harrison floored an old man while leaving the Palace.

[mikejones99]

The players should be able to beat any fans at that time. Most of them fans were throwing shit and they should go back and look at the film and send all 500 or so of them to jail. Green has a big criminal past he should never be allowed to another sporting event. It is no accident this happened in Oakland county, the most corrupt place on earth. Stephen Jackon, Oneal and Artest should not have been charged at all. Indiana got screwed big time and they crushed the Pistons that night.

[DarkReign]

It is no accident this happened in Oakland county, the most corrupt place on earth.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Youre an idiot of the highest magnitude. Seriously, ignorant doesnt properly describe cretons of your ilk. Go play in traffic please. kthnxbye

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_County%2C_MI

[Eruff24]

The players should be able to beat any fans at that time. Most of them fans were throwing shit and they should go back and look at the film and send all 500 or so of them to jail. Green has a big criminal past he should never be allowed to another sporting event. It is no accident this happened in Oakland county, the most corrupt place on earth. Stephen Jackon, Oneal and Artest should not have been charged at all. Indiana got screwed big time and they crushed the Pistons that night.

What do you expect from coward @ss fans whom get drunk and play superman. Now if this was to happen in Detroit their would be no Artest beating up fans trust me. oakland county is a soft city where the rich bandwagon fans buy up all the tickets from the real Pistons fans thats if their are any.

[FreshPrince22]

What do you expect from coward @ss fans whom get drunk and play superman. Now if this was to happen in Detroit their would be no Artest beating up fans trust me. oakland county is a soft city where the rich bandwagon fans buy up all the tickets from the real Pistons fans thats if their are any.

You have to be poor to be a fan of a basketball team now?

[Eruff24]

You have to be poor to be a fan of a basketball team now?

I havent said that at all. You know what im talking about. Face it the Pistons have the biggest wagon of fans in the Nba and I tend to expose it.

[bdubya]

..... the rich bandwagon fans buy up all the tickets from the real Pistons fans thats if their are any.


Riiiiight. I live in Chicago; it would cost me more to catch a Bulls home game than I paid for main floor PLAYOFFS tix at the Palace last year. You don't have the FAINTEST idea what you're talking about; just step away from the keyboard and go stand in the corner for a while.

[Darrin]

The Pistons raised their prices between 35-50% for the 2005-06 season. They had to lower the prices for 2001-02 because they averaged 14,000 fans a game, the lowest attendance total since they were in the Silverdome in 1983-84, or the first winning season with Isiah Thomas. The tickets hadn't but minimally increased since then. For instance, in 2001-02, the tickets for the playoffs were the same price as the regular season. In 2002-03, the playoff ticket prices were the lowest of the 16 teams.

What he is saying isn't wholly without merit. Although the move from Pontiac to Auburn Hills was perhaps 10-15 miles, John Salley commented "We used to play for lineworkers, now we play for their bosses." I haven't been able to get a ticket since the first round of ther 2004 playoffs, although I live in Oakland County. The county is lilly-white, conservative, and upper-middle class. It is consistently a top-five revenue county in the nation.

[Trainwreck2100]

I know Artest is a prick, but it's thanks to this jerk that the whole thing happened, so he does deserve an ass raping

[Darrin]

I know Artest is a prick, but it's thanks to this jerk that the whole thing happened, so he does deserve an ass raping

Said player is a prick, but I would like to sell off raffle tickets for true Pistons fans and Detroit residents to be able to throw a full cup a beer at this so-called fan like he's a Carnie worker.

[mike detroit]

The players should be able to beat any fans at that time. Most of them fans were throwing shit and they should go back and look at the film and send all 500 or so of them to jail. Green has a big criminal past he should never be allowed to another sporting event. It is no accident this happened in Oakland county, the most corrupt place on earth. Stephen Jackon, Oneal and Artest should not have been charged at all. Indiana got screwed big time and they crushed the Pistons that night.


I can't believe you haven't been banned yet you stupid troll.

[mike detroit]

What do you expect from coward @ss fans whom get drunk and play superman. Now if this was to happen in Detroit their would be no Artest beating up fans trust me. oakland county is a soft city where the rich bandwagon fans buy up all the tickets from the real Pistons fans thats if their are any.


oakland county isn't a city, genius.

[mikejones99]

:king :rolleyes