Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Great Moments in Assault and Battery

Shawn Chacon was suspended by the Astros after getting into a heated and eventually violent exchange with General Manager Ed Wade.

Seems Wade and Cecil Cooper wanted to talk to him in the manager's office. Chacon didn't want to, telling him that he was in no mood to listen to what they had to say in private. Words were exchanged, and then this:
“He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said of Wade. "I’m sitting there and I said to him very calmly, ‘Ed, you need to stop yelling at me. Then I stood up and said 'you better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling and stuff and was like, ‘You need to (expletive) look in the mirror.’ So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him because at that point I wanted to beat his (butt). Words were exchanged.”
Yeah, that's the story in Chacon's own words. Forgive me for being a lawyer, but when I read that I don't think "wow, this team is in turmoil." I think "wow, Wade's lawyer could win this one on summary judgment right now!"

Chacon has made around $13M in his career. If Wade wakes up with so much as a sore neck tomorrow, he could probably dip into some of that if he were so inclined.

9 comments:

Alex Brissette said...

I'm just a simple caveman. Your big legal words like "summary judgement" confuse and frighten me!



Seriously, I don't know what that term means.

tHeMARksMiTh said...

I second that. I'm interested in the answer though.

Anonymous said...

I am not a lawyer, and I know that Craig will answer this question in the morning, but i believe that "summary judgement" means that when the defendant presents his case to the judge, the judges first response is "Sorry, you lose"

TC said...

Obviously, Chacon overreacted pretty badly here, but it does seem to me like Wade provoked him a bit. Your boss should know better than to scream at you uncontrollably.

Though, maybe I'm just sympathetic to the act of whipping Ed Wade.

Craig Calcaterra said...

Oh, no one is saying that Wade didn't deserve a good beating for other reasons . . .

Summary judgment is when, after discovery (depositions, the exchange of documents, etc.) one party files a motion with the court and basically says:

"there is no dispute of fact in this case for a jury to decide. The evidence is clear and undisputed (and here it is), and that evidence says that I should win."

The other side gets a chance to argue that either (1) no, there are disputes of fact that a jury must resolve; we have to go to trial; or (2) we agree that there is no dispute of fact here, but those facts mean WE win, not them!"

The judge then makes the call, either granting summary judgment to one party, or saying that there are still facts that are unclear and a trial must be had.

Craig Calcaterra said...

Keep in mind -- that only happens in civil cases, not criminal cases.

Anonymous said...

It's probably not the most sound business decision for a general manager to sue a player, even if the lawsuit is warranted and the player is only Shawn Chacon. Do you think opposing teams courting free agents won't point out to players that if they choose Houston, they might get sued by their own GM?

Amos

Scaevola said...

Yea, but should Ed Wade sue Shawn Chacon? For what? Getting assaulted? Laughable, mang. It was a gentlemanly disagreement and Wade should man up and not take it to court like some effeminate Roman.

Craig Calcaterra said...

Not saying he should. Just saying he could, and that if he did, he would win.