For those interested, here's a general overview of the
situation...cut and pasted from The Ann Arbor News.
If you'd like to read more, I recommend their web site:
 
  www.aa.mlive.com
 
 
John Haeussler ([log in to unmask])
 
(AA News text follows)
 
An attorney for Chris Fox, the Univerity of Michigan hockey player
arraigned Wednesday on a felony assault charge, said Fox was cut and
defending himself when his stick struck an opponent June 15 at the Detroit
Skate Club in Bloomfield Township.
 
Fox, a 21-year-old senior defenseman from Grosse Pointe Park, is accused
of striking Robert Thomas of Waterford in the mouth with his stick during a
summer recreational game.
 
Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca called it an unprovoked,
malicious attack on Thomas. But Fox's attorney, David Binkley, said Fox
had just been high-sticked himself and was trying to defend himself from
further injury.
 
"Chris was going toward the net, got hooked, and got gashed in his face,"
Binkley said. "He was going back to the bench and was confronted by
another player. He thought he was going to be attacked again."
 
Binkley said witness statements he provided the prosecutors were ignored -
as was proof that Fox needed his own medical attention.
 
Several calls to the Oakland County prosecutor's office on Wednesday
were not returned.
 
If convicted, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Fox could face up to 10 years in
prison. Prosecutors also will seek compensation from Fox for several
thousand dollars in medical bills incurred by Thomas.
 
"Chris left the rink and went straight to the hospital," Binkley said. "He
needed 12 stitches by a plastic surgeon. We provided the medical report,
but the prosecutor's office didn't even look at it. The referee made a
statement that he never even saw Chris get cut."
 
The Bloomfield Township Police Department report states that Thomas,
who lost one tooth, had two loosened and one chipped, knew Fox's action
was a retaliatory strike, because moments earlier he had seen Fox hit by one
of Thomas' teammates, cutting Fox's face.
 
But Gorcyca's statement did not include that information, and he quoted the
game referee as saying it was the most vicious attack he's seen in 20 years
of
officiating.
 
Gorcyca also stated that it took seven months to bring charges because Fox
and his teammates withheld the U-M player's identity the night of the
incident
and thereafter. That was disputed by Binkley.
 
"Chris' name and jersey number is on the roster," Binkley said. "He wasn't
even penalized the whole season. His name is there but they couldn't figure
it
out."
 
Investigators contacted U-M's Department of Public Safety in July to get
photos of the U-M hockey team, from which Thomas identified Fox.
 
More investigation continued in October and November as detectives called
Fox's Ann Arbor home but no charges were ever brought - until this week.
 
"It's ironic now that I get a call (Tuesday) saying that there's a warrant
for
Chris Fox's arrest," Wolverines' hockey coach Red Berenson said. "And it's
like he's been on the loose for all this time and no one knew where he was.
That's ludicrous. They knew who he was from the day he left the rink."
 
(snip)
 
His status on the team is unaffected by the charges in Berenson's eyes. Fox
will be in the lineup for Friday's home game against Bowling Green. Calls to
U-M athletic director Tom Goss were not returned.
 
"I'm behind him 100 percent, our team is behind him and our athletic
department is behind him," Berenson said. "Whether this is an attack on
Michigan or Chris Fox, I'm not sure. ... He hasn't done anything, or he
hasn't
broken the law as far as I know. He certainly isn't going to be punished by
us until the law says something different."
 
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