Buffalo Sabres Evander Kane Off The Hook, If He Stays Out Of Trouble
The Buffalo Sabres semi-troubled forward scores, provided he can keep his nose clean for six months.
“Arrogant, boorish and surly.” (Courtesy of ESPN.com)
Those were the words Erie County District Attorney Michael Flaherty used to describe Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane Monday morning when arguing that his client’s actions were a lot of things, but were not criminal.
Buffalo City Court Judge Barbara Johnson-Lee agreed, approving a plea agreement that will have Kane’s harassment and trespassing charges stemming from incidents that took place over June 24 and 25 dismissed – under one circumstance:
Kane must stay out of trouble with the law for six months.
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Is it too late to work in a “Don’t Leave Your House Unless Accompanied By A Responsible Adult” clause into Kane’s contract?!?
Kane has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and it should be noted that all of the plaintiffs involved have agreed with the plea, and that none of them are requesting an order of protection against Kane.
As a Buffalo Sabres fan, I suppose I should be glad about this turn of events . . . and if there is no evidence of Kane doing anything criminal, then he clearly should have had the charges dropped . . . but the fact that they were not dropped outright leads me to think that this is a case of a professional athlete getting a break that neither you or I would be awarded.
If he’s entirely innocent, then just drop the charges – don’t attach a stipulation. Agreeing to dismiss charges if he can stay clean until April . . . sounds like what he did was borderline illegal, but nobody wanted to really pursue the case of a high-profile athlete.
We’re a Buffalo Sabres fan blog, folks, so my opinion is just that: opinion. The court has made its decision, and it is what it is. Hopefully, this will be the last time we have to hear about Evander Kane and his public life.
What do you think of the proposed plea agreement? Justified, or more pandering to professional athletes? Sound off below!
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