Criminal Record for Hockey Attack

As reported here in the London Free Press:

A Niagara Falls woman hockey player has kept one on-ice record no professional player has ever earned -- a criminal record.

Julia Tropea, 22, lost the appeal of her sentence for assault levelled last January in a precedent-setting case of hockey violence.

Tropea pleaded not guilty to assault causing bodily harm, but guilty to common assault last November for the vicious attack on a London player during a tournament at the Western Fair on Feb. 12, 2005.

Her sentence -- a suspended sentence and two years' probation -- was a far stiffer sentence than faced by professional hockey players who, in high-profile cases, have been given conditional discharges for on-ice assaults.

Both Todd Bertuzzi and Marty McSorley -- NHL tough guys who went to criminal court for on-ice hits -- were granted discharges, leaving them without criminal records.

Superior Court Justice John McGarry upheld the sentence from Ontario Court Justice Ted McGrath, saying "these actions were not in the heat of the moment but a planned attack in a no-contact sport."

McGarry stressed in his decision the London amateur women's hockey game was supposed to be non-contact.

"In these circumstances, the comparison of sentences being conditional discharges for professional hockey players is not helpful when one considers non-contact amateur sport."

Tropea, who played for the Niagara Falls Rapids, was charged after Carly Bernard, 20, playing on the London team, fell on another Niagara Falls player and prevented her from getting up.

She was about to be sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct when Tropea came across the ice and cross-checked her.

Bernard fell to the ice and Tropea kicked her helmet at the top of the head with the toe of her skate.

When Tropea was being escorted from the ice, she was heard threatening other players with "I'll kick the (expletive) out of you, too."

Bernard was later diagnosed with a jaw dislocation and a possible concussion.

Tropea was assessed a cross-checking penalty.

The Crown and the defence agreed at the original sentencing there was no way of knowing if Bernard's injuries were caused by the cross-check or the kick.

Tropea's lawyer, Andy Rady, is considering an appeal to Ontario's highest court.

"I will be consulting with my client to decide whether to appeal the matter further to the Ontario Court of Appeal," he said.

Interestingly, the Bertuzzi and McSorley cases were cited in the oral decision. Justice McGarry is an excellent judge - well spoken and very articulate.

The case has some interesting precedential value, but since the actions occurred in a non-contact game, it has slightly less applicable precedent to professional or contact hockey. The next similar case will be interesting - if a judge follows the Bertuzzi/McSorley line, or the new Tropea line.

Citation to the actual decision will be posted once it is made available.