Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

Mark McAdam: Blog

An addendum to the hockey stick thing.

Posted on October 4, 2011 with 0 comments

It took a long to shake itself out, but for those who are interested, here's how all that resolved...

Statements were made, statutes invoked, and countless appearances before the court were endured. It was not a process that that instilled faith in our criminal justice system. I have always been a fan of Terry Gilliam but never wished to be stuck in one of his movies. Really: unending hallways of tile and despair, leaning towers of forgotten documents, rusted file cabinets overflowing with indifference.

In the end, here's what happened: remember the guys who chased us down? Remember the one who beat me up while his friends held me back? Remember how he tried to wrench my hockey stick away from me (so he could use it as a weapon against me) and hurt himself in the process? We had to pay his medical bills. That was the settlement that seemed fair to D.A.

It was a few thousand bucks (plus I won't even mention our legal fees (but: a LOT)). Not the end of the world. But when you calculate the THOUSANDS of dollars these folks made selling photos of the fracas... it seems insulting.

The system is only as good as the people who turn the cogs. The first assistant D.A. who was assigned seemed to understand who the paparazzi are and what they do. It seemed like the case was going to be thrown out. But halfway through the ordeal, she quit for personal reasons and the whole thing was prolonged.

The second assistant D.A. we got was a spineless, befuddled human being named Nicholas Viorst who Just Didn't Know What to Think! So he punted, covering his ass, costing us thousands, and letting actual criminals not only go free, but profit from their crime. And I'm just as bad for accepting his bogus deal but I couldn't afford more legal fees and, with my new-found disdain for the courts, didn't want to put my family through a trial where I could face, y'know... jail time.

Dear Nicholas Viorst: I wish you the best. And if you are ever assaulted and beaten by a group of thugs on the street, I sincerely hope that the NYPD and the Department of Justice treats you with more competence, professionalism, courage, and respect than they did me.