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Originally Posted by djtestudo
What if the fan had thrown a bottle? A battery? A rock?
He threw the cup because that's what was in his hand. Does that make it less of an assault?
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Good question, dj.
It actually does make it less of an assault because a plastic cup is typically not considered a dangerous weapon. Given that the dipshit lightly tossed it at Artest, the deadly plastic cup theory goes out the window.
However, there is an interesting route the prosecutors could take with this case. Since it was the throwing of the cup that started the entire brawl, the guy who threw the cup could conceivably be charged with inciting a riot, which is a felony in the State of Michigan. This is from the current Michigan Penal Code:
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750.87 Assault with intent to commit felony not otherwise punished.
Sec. 87.
Assault with intent to commit felony, not otherwise punished—Any person who shall assault another, with intent to commit any burglary, or any other felony, the punishment of which assault is not otherwise in this act prescribed, shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 10 years, or by fine of not more than 5,000 dollars.
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I'm not sure how likely this route will be but one never knows. In addition, Artest, Jackson and O'Neal could also face charges but not nearly as serious:
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750.81a Assault; infliction of serious or aggravated injury; “dating relationship” defined.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person who assaults an individual without a weapon and inflicts serious or aggravated injury upon that individual without intending to commit murder or to inflict great bodily harm less than murder is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both.
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One more interesting side note to all of this was the gentleman who decided to throw the folding chair. Check out this possible charge:
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750.528 Riots and unlawful assemblies; destroying dwelling house or other property.
Sec. 528.
Riotously destroying dwelling house or other property—Any of the persons so unlawfully assembled, who shall demolish, pull down, destroy or injure, or who shall begin to demolish, pull down, destroy or injure any dwelling house or any other building, or any ship or vessel, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be answerable to any person injured, to the full amount of the damage, in an action of trespass.
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According to this section of Michigan law, it would have been smarter to start swinging at Artest, so long as you don't intend to kill him, than grabbing a stadium folding chair and throwing it across a group of people. Although, that could still be considered assault, so you'd have a misdemeanor and a felony on your record for flinging a chair at a moronic basketball player.