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**speedythief** · 07-05-2005, 09:57 AM

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Three NBA players go on trial this morning for an alleged assault against two women and two men outside a downtown strip club two years ago...

The three accused -- Gary Payton, Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey -- were not in court yesterday, the Fourth of July holiday in the United States, but their lawyer, Edward Greenspan, said they will be in court this morning. They were teammates on the National Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks when the incident occurred outside For Your Eyes Only strip club on April 11, 2003.

Toronto Police Sergeant Jim Muscat said at the time that the alleged assault was the result of an escalation of incidents that occurred at about 2:30 a.m., after the Bucks had defeated the Raptors 105-103.

According to Sgt. Muscat, one of the players got into an argument with one of the two women, both of whom had been employed by the club at some point, and the situation escalated when the woman's boyfriend became involved. Two players who had been waiting for their teammate in a cab left the vehicle and joined the altercation, as did the club doorman.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...%20nal/Toronto

I almost forgot about this ordeal. I don't think much will come of it.

**CrookedJ** · 07-05-2005, 10:13 AM

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the incident occurred outside For Your Eyes Only strip club on April 11, 2003.

I almost had my own incident at the same club. Was very ( very) drunk and got into a shouting match with the coat check girl. Apparently I didn't feel that I should have to produce a ticket to get my sweater (which I was expectionally mad at having to check in the first place) My buddies saw the bouncers circle and bravely went to wait for me outside.

After leaving without my coat, some big wig outside ( head of security or sumpt'n) was able to go in and negotiate the release of said sweater. On to the next bar!

Benis007 · 07-05-2005, 02:47 PM

Classy joint, highly recommended by the Benis Toronto Guide Book.

"No sex in the champagne room, no sex in the champagne room, absolutely, positively, no sex in the champagne room."

SkywalkerAC · 07-05-2005, 03:22 PM

I wonder if Payton and Cassel are going to be teaming up again soon for one last shot at glory...

**speedythief** · 07-06-2005, 01:11 PM

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TORONTO -- An assault trial for three NBA players has heard that three men hurled racial slurs from a taxi before getting out and pummelling a man.

Adrian Cimpean testified he was picking up his fiancee from work outside a strip club in April 2003 when three men in a taxi began calling him a "******."

He says they told him they would teach him a lesson.

Cimpean is white, while the three accused -- all NBA players -- are black.

Lawyer Eddie Greenspan, who is representing former Milwaukee Bucks players Gary Payton, Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey, suggested that Cimpean is exaggerating his injuries from the early morning assault.

Cimpean says he has been unable to work since the incident.

He says he has ringing in his ears, a frequent burning sensation in his head, depression and anger.

The three players are charged with assault causing bodily harm and common assault on Cimpean, his girlfriend, another dancer from the club and the club's bouncer.

http://www.canada.com/national/natio...5-927b7851e6da

**speedythief** · 07-06-2005, 01:13 PM

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Toronto police were accused yesterday of conducting a shoddy investigation of an April, 2003, altercation outside a Toronto strip club that resulted in three National Basketball Association players being charged with assault causing bodily harm.

Edward Greenspan, the lawyer for NBA veteran Gary Payton, suggested in court that it was "preposterous" his client used a racial epithet against the alleged victim, who is a white man of Romanian descent.

Mr. Payton, Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey were all playing for the Milwaukee Bucks when they attended a strip club in the early morning hours of April 11, 2003, after a game against the Toronto Raptors.

The three basketball players are accused of assaulting Adrian Cimpean following a dispute with his girlfriend, Vida Asante, who was a dancer at the strip club.

Mr. Payton is also charged with assaulting Ms. Asante and another dancer. Mr. Cassell faces an addition charge of assaulting the doorman at the club.

The court heard that Mr. Cimpean suffered a small cut to his left eye and some bruising to his shoulders. The white man allegedly told police that he was called a "******" by Mr. Payton, who is black.

This allegation was never made in Mr. Cimpean's original statement to police and Staff Sergeant George Mullin testified that it "came up at some point in the investigation."

In a combative cross-examination, Mr. Greenspan asked why the senior officer did not bring Mr. Cimpean in for another interview to clarify this "preposterous" allegation.

"I didn't think it was important at the time," said Staff Sgt. Mullin, who was the officer in charge of the investigation.

"You didn't think, maybe this thing happened because Cimpean called Payton ******," asked Mr. Greenspan.

"That's not why I thought," said the officer.

Mr. Greenspan said outside court yesterday there was a racial component to the incident that will become clear "as the trial develops."

Mr. Cassell, who was dressed casually in a matching brown linen top and pants, was the only one of the three defendants to appear in court for the first full day of the trial.

Defendants in provincial court are not required to attend trials if they have a lawyer representing their interests. Greenspan told Justice William Bassell that Mr. Payton is flying to Toronto from the West Coast and is expected to be in court today and for the rest of the trial.

Mr. Caffey, who is no longer in the NBA, is not expected to attend the trial.

Mr. Cimpean and Ms. Asante, who is now his wife, are both expected to testify today. The couple has not filed a statement of claim, but it is expected they will launch a civil suit against the three players after the conclusion of the trial.

http://www.canada.com/national/natio...d-abcade001338

**speedythief** · 07-07-2005, 01:41 PM

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Mr. Cimpion, 31, who migrated from Romania in 1995, told the court that after his work as a male stripper at Remington's, he had gone home, showered, changed, and gone to For Your Eyes Only to wait for his girlfriend, Vida Asante, to finish her shift as a dancer.

According to his version of the altercation, the three players were waiting in a cab in front of the club when he and Ms. Asante left about 2:30 and turned east on King Street to head home.

Mr. Cimpion said that Mr. Payton called out from the cab, that he wanted to talk to Ms. Asante, whom he called "a ****ing ho." Mr. Cimpion, who has since married Ms. Asante, said he "turned around, looked down, and said: it's my lady, please."

Quickly, he found himself surrounded by the three and in a brawl in which Mr. Payton took a swing at him, which he ducked.

He said that he was then pushed to the street from behind by another player, whom he did not identify, and while he was on the ground on his knees, he was punched, kicked and his clothes were ripped...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...tional/Toronto

**speedythief** · 07-07-2005, 01:43 PM

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A male stripper was so injured, traumatized and frightened by a run-in with three NBA players that he hasn't been able to work as an exotic dancer since April 2003 — and now plans to sue them.

Adrian Cimpean told a court yesterday that he was beaten by three men outside For Your Eyes Only, a strip club on King St. W., where he had gone to pick up his fiancée, Vida Asante, who was working as a stripper.

Cimpean said he and Asante were leaving the club when Gary Payton, Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey leapt out of a cab and descended on them, knocking Cimpean to the ground and leaving him dizzy, with ringing ears, blurred vision and terrible stress.

The three players have all been charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm and three counts of common assault. Payton also allegedly pushed Cimpean's fiancée and assaulted another female dancer at the scene while Cassell assaulted the club's bouncer.

Only Payton and Cassell were in court yesterday. Caffey is not expected to appear at the week-long trial before Justice William Bassel.

The beating, which Cimpean described as unprovoked, was precipitated by catcalling, insults and racial slurs, he told crown prosecutor Darren Hogan. "The person in the front seat was yelling (at Asante), `Where you going, girl, come here, I want to talk to you,'" Cimpean recalled. "We ignored him and made a few steps. He said, `I can't believe she's ignoring me.' And they said, `Yo, `ho, you f---ing `ho, turn around, I'm talking to you.'

"I said, `That's my lady, please,'" Cimpean, who emigrated from Romania a decade ago, recalled. "And I turned around and I made a few steps."

It was then that one of the players called Cimpean, who is white, a "n--ger", the 31-year-old said. He recalled hearing one of them say: "I can't believe this f---ing n--ger. Look at him."

Cimpean was then punched in the face by one of the players while another went behind him and knocked him to the ground, an attack he estimated lasting as long as five minutes.

"I feel angry, I feel upset, I feel isolated," Cimpean said, repeatedly describing himself as "in shock." But under cross-examination by defence lawyer Edward Greenspan, Cimpean's credibility and motives came under attack...

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...acodalogin=yes

**bigbabyjesus** · 07-07-2005, 01:56 PM

The guys a male stripper! I mean, come on! He deserves any beating he gets!

**Crossword** · 07-07-2005, 02:09 PM

Are they still in Toronto? I should go check them out haha.

**CrookedJ** · 07-07-2005, 05:40 PM

hahahaha Three drunk millionaires in a cab yelling at people coming out of bars. I guess when you're a kid at heart . . .

**Blazer Freak** · 07-07-2005, 05:45 PM

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Originally Posted by vigilante

The guys a male stripper! I mean, come on! He deserves any beating he gets!

Come on now..

**speedythief** · 07-09-2005, 10:53 AM

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The altercation in front of a King Street strip club that led to three NBA players being charged with assault was "a pointless fight" that lasted only a few seconds, according to an exotic dancer who witnessed it.

Nicole Stone told the trial of Gary Payton, Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey that as she was leaving For Your Eyes Only on the night of April 13, 2003, "some swinging" occurred between the players and Adrian Cimpian, but it was quickly broken up by the club's bouncers.

After Mr. Cimpian and his girlfriend, Vida Asante, reported the altercation to police, the three players, who were then with the Milwaukee Bucks, were charged with assault causing bodily harm and common assault on two men and two women.

Mr. Cimpian has said he is planning to sue Mr. Payton, Mr. Cassell and Mr. Caffey after the criminal trial.

Ms. Stone, 27, testified the three basketball players arrived at the club after midnight and she made $500 (U.S.) dancing for, and being with, Mr. Payton for an hour before the club closed.

Ms. Stone said that because she had a boyfriend, she had already turned down Mr. Payton when he asked her back to his hotel room.

As the players were leaving the club, Ms. Stone said, there was a discussion between the players and the dancers about "who was going home with whom."

She went to change out of her dancing clothes, and when she left the club with Ms. Asante and Mr. Cimpian, the three players were waiting in a cab parked in front of the club.

The fight started after Mr. Cimpian and Mr. Payton got into a heated argument.

"The reason why it got out of hand was that something was said," Ms. Stone testified.

She said she had not expected Mr. Payton to get out of the cab, but after Mr. Cimpian said something to him, he jumped out.

"I don't know what taunted Payton, but he came out of the car. . . . They were arguing, Adrian and Gary," she said.

Ms. Stone said she was not paying much attention to the argument but recalled Mr. Cimpian saying, "They aren't going home with you."

Just as she heard Mr. Payton say "do you know who I am," she turned in their direction just in time to see Mr. Payton take a swing at Mr. Cimpian.

The club's bouncers stepped in to try to break up the fight, and that was when Mr. Cassell and Mr. Caffey, who had not been involved, got into the melee, Ms. Stone said.

Ms. Asante "grabbed Adrian to pull him away, but by the it's a swinging match. Everyone's going to get hit," she said.

Mr. Cimpian was hit by Mr. Payton, and she and Ms. Asante were hit by errant blows. But it was all over quickly, as soon as people realized the bouncers were breaking it up.

Once it broke up, "everybody went home," she said, verbally underlining each word.

Ms. Stone's account differed markedly from Mr. Cimpian's.

He testified the fight lasted for as long as five minutes.

"The conversation lasted longer than the fight. No way it lasted five minutes," Ms. Stone testified.

Mr. Cimpian said he was pushed to the ground, and hit and kicked by the players to the point he suffered severe injury, including brain damage.

Ms. Stone stood in court to demonstrate that he was crouched in a defensive position, with his knees bent, and his fists in front of

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