Jan. 28--The consequences for Blake Griffin's punching Clippers assistant equipment manager Matias Testi last weekend could extend beyond the star forward's broken right hand.
But don't expect the altercation at a Toronto restaurant to be reviewed in a courtroom.
Though the NBA plans to interview Griffin as part of an inquiry that could lead to a suspension, the Toronto Police Service isn't investigating. The department doesn't have any record of the incident or of officers responding to it.
"It is highly possible that officers were in the area walking by," Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu, a department spokeswoman, said by email Wednesday. "If, however, no one says there is an issue or complaint [or] problem and it looks like everything is in order, the police would leave and not put in a report."
Legal experts don't think criminal charges will be filed. They expressed surprise at the national attention the scuffle attracted and believe it's in the best interest of the two men to resolve the matter privately.
"The most likely outcome is that there are no criminal charges," said Michael McCann, a sports law professor at the University of New Hampshire. "Any potential civil litigation would be settled out of court confidentially, without exposure to the media. It makes a lot of sense for everyone involved to resolve this dispute privately, not publicly. That's the sensible path."
In Canada, there is a six-month statute of limitations to bring charges for a summary conviction offense -- essentially a misdemeanor -- but no such limitation for more serious indictable offenses.
It's not legally necessary for the alleged victim to come forward, but Kent Roach, a law professor at the University of Toronto, said that may be necessary in certain cases as a practical matter.
There's always the possibility of a civil lawsuit, but Scott Andresen, a sports and entertainment lawyer in Chicago who teaches at Northwestern University, noted that Griffin and Testi appeared to be friends before the punches were thrown in Toronto.
"Even if whatever happened had friendship-ending fallout of some sort, I still don't think it gets into the court system," Andresen said. "While I'm sure there are lots of lawyers who would love to run into court and file this lawsuit, at the end of the day it's in everybody's interest to resolve it."
