from the CBW on Allen and Telfair

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle]

April 24, 2007
Tony Allen is Cleared...
Today, a Chicago judge cleared Tony Allen of all charges relating to 
a fight/shooting at a Chicago restaurant nearly 19 months ago.  The 
State was told it had not made it's case of three counts of 
aggravated battery against Allen.

This situation was a cloud over Allen's season, which was shortened 
by his January 10 knee injury.  His physical rehabilitation continues 
and he is expected to be playing next season.

...while Sebastian Telfair is Cleared Out.

In an e-mail to Boston Globe reporters Peter May and Shira Springer, 
Celtics  managing partner Wyc Grousbeck stated that,  "...we have 
removed Sebastian Telfair's nameplate from his locker in 
Waltham.  The facts and circumstances of his case have not been 
determined but he does not have a Celtics locker and we do not 
anticipate that he will."

This is interesting, in light of the fact I fully expected the C's to 
at least string Telfair along until a trade could be made.  It now 
appears that the Celtics may be looking to void Telfair's contract 
entirely for violations of team/NBA rules.

Telfair's attorney, Ed Hayes, sank to a new low by comparing the 
team's decision to the situation with the Duke Lacrosse players in 
North Carolina in a statement to the Associated Perss, saying "It 
always bothers me when you punish a guy so severely before there's 
been a finding of fact.  I think that's wrong whether it happens in 
Durham, or in Boston."

Sorry, Eddie, you got it wrong.  The Duke players were attacked by a 
District Attorney so out of control that even other lawyers are 
saying there's grounds for a civil suit.  Those players were accused 
of rape by a woman who kept changing her story even as the D.A. 
couldn't wait to prejudge them.  They were indeed wrongly accused and 
their reputations suffered because everyone--including the 
University--rushed to assumptions.

In this case, we have incontrovertable facts.
Fact:  Sebastian Telfair was caught BY THE POLICE while speeding at 
77mph in a 35mph zone at 4AM on Friday morning.
Fact: When stopped by those same police officers, they found he was 
driving with a suspended Florida license.
Fact: Police saw a .45 caliber handgun sticking out from under the 
front passenger seat.  Under New York State law, when drugs or 
weapons are found in a car, everyone in the car is charged with the 
related offense unless someone admits it belongs to them.
Fact: Telfair initially denied knowing how the handgun got there.
Fact: The police subsequently determined that the weapon belongs to 
Telfair's girlfriend.  This makes it extremely likely that Telfair 
lied to the police.
Fact: This is NOT the first time his girlfriend's gun has ended up in 
Telfair's possession.

Given these facts, it's entirely reasonable that the Celtics are 
taking steps to distance themselves from Telfair.  The fact that 
Telfair's on court play wasn't so hot didn't help, but the fact is, 
this kind of poor judgement is something the team does NOT need.

There was no rush to judgement here.  Even Telfair and his attorney 
aren't challenging the police account of what factually happened.  So 
trying to compare this situation to the persecution and harassment 
endured by the Duke Lacrosse players is not only idiotically wrong, 
it's offensive, both to the Duke men, AND to the Celtics.

Looks like Telfair's poor judgement extends to his choice of legal 
representation.

In any event, the Celtics are taking the proper action.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website