OT: man pays kid to hit disabled teammate with baseball
Quote:
PITTSBURGH -- A T-ball coach accused of offering an 8-year-old boy $25 to bean a disabled teammate is unlikely to receive a fair trial because of intense media coverage, the man's lawyer said.
Mark R. Downs Jr., 29, of Dunbar, was scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in Fayette County on a string of charges, including solicitation, corruption of minors and reckless endangerment. He refused a plea agreement in December.
The charges against Downs drew the attention of media outlets around the world. Many columnists expressed disgust at what they considered adult corruption of a child's sport.
"We feel he's been persecuted by the media," defense attorney Thomas Shaffer said. "[The case] was on from the nightly news in Japan to every syndicated network broadcast across the country."
Prosecutors have argued that Downs did not want Harry Bowers Jr., then 9, to play in a June 2005 T-ball playoff game because the boy wasn't as good as his teammates. Bowers has autism and mild mental retardation.
Keith Reese, 8 at the time, testified at a preliminary hearing that he hit Bowers with baseballs first in the groin and later in the ear. Reese said he did it because Downs offered him $25 to make sure Bowers wouldn't be able to play.
sorry i don't have a link, i grabbed this from one of the blogs i read.
Roger would have done it for free and would have replied "Kid was hugging the plate too much. Had to back him up and show him who was in control here". Roger is the first person who came to my mind when i saw the title. I remember on one of those sunday night shows he was being interviewed. Playing whiffle ball with his son. Son took him over the hedges, next pitch he clonked him and had that classic Roger stare/mean mug. The Rocket baby! I think Roger did this to his son in the minors. Son took him deep and next AB got hit by him. Take ur base young man!
No crying in baseball. One thing that is disturbing is baseball leagues in this country are intense. I mean parents, coaches, fans are into it RELIGIOUSLY. It can be a very very cut throat sport at ages that young. I've heard and experienced some crazy stuff. So I'm not shocked this happened.
No crying in baseball. One thing that is disturbing is baseball leagues in this country are intense. I mean parents, coaches, fans are into it RELIGIOUSLY. It can be a very very cut throat sport at ages that young. I've heard and experienced some crazy stuff. So I'm not shocked this happened.
kinda like here in canada with hockey. parents get into fights in the stands every now and then, especially if they believe a penalty should have been called on their kid.
one father killed another father last year... claiming he was attacked first. the dispute was over one of their kids highsticking the other and a penalty wasn't called... i guess the ref didn't see it.
the guy who was killed was like 5'9, 160, the killer was 6'3, 240.
It is sad that in kid's sports now they are letting retards and other screwed up kids try to play sports when they are not simply able to perform. This mantra of letting them play is from the "from each according to his ability, from each according to his need" mantra. Once again it is communism that is to blame for all of this. This dumb idea that you should bring advanced people down so that they can be equal with lesser people is sick and disgusting. There are too many communists living in America today, and these people also support Islamic terrorists.
OT: man pays kid to hit disabled teammate with baseball
