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Joe Corvo Update |
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Joe Corvo D Height: 6'-1" Birthday: June 20, 1977 From: Illinois |
Joe Corvo's Boston Assault Trial Date ( Monday Oct 27th )
King / Monarch defenseman Joe Corvo's assault trial in Boston, which was scheduled to start Monday June 23rd, was continued to Oct. 27. Corvo, who allegedly attacked a woman last year in November when he was with the Kings' top minor league team, is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, his foot, and indecent assault and battery, both felonies. He also is charged with simple assault and battery, a misdemeanor.
Note: Some fans might not appreciate that I kept reporting on Corvo's incident last year. All I want to say is, I try to report on as much good stuff regarding the Monarchs as possible, and to be fair, I can't justify to myself or to any other fan, not reporting on any bad news that comes up either. Hope you understand. ... Joe Z.
"I'm glad that Corvo assumed responsibility for his actions by the guilty plea he entered on Monday. Although I, as well as many other fans were disgusted by his actions that night in November, now have to at least credit Corvo with being man enough to do the right thing by admitting his guilt. I don't believe it is our place to assess punishment in this matter, it is up to the Court. The Court has accepted Corvo's guilty plea and has already decided on his punishment based on the facts they heard presented before them. It is now over and time to move on... Keep your nose clean Joe Corvo and I for one wish you the best of luck in your hockey future where ever it may take you." ..... Joe Z.
news articles follow ...
11/05/03 Sentence Does Not Fit The Crime
by Bill Plaschke, LA TimesIt's a catchy motto, a cool motto and, until last week, a valid motto.
We are the Kings.
Um, no, not all of them.
Not when one of them is a convicted felon.
The Kings are selling family but sounding phony in the wake of their refusal to get tough on a man who got tough with a woman.
His name is Joe Corvo, and he plays defense, except for a few minutes in a Boston restaurant at 1:30 a.m. on a November night last year.
There, with a woman who was no match for his 205-pound frame, he allegedly went on the attack.
According to police, he squeezed her buttocks and was asked to leave the restaurant. He returned later and punched her in the face, causing her to crumple to the floor. He then allegedly kicked her several times before fleeing.
Initially, Corvo said he didn't do it. But last week, he pleaded guilty to a felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — his foot — and a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and battery.
It sounded like prison term stuff.
Instead, it was little more than penalty box stuff.
The judge gave him a two-year suspended sentence. The Kings gave him a three-game suspension.
What the judge was thinking, who knows? But from the Kings, it is reasonable to expect more.
Three games?
That's not a penalty, that's a hiccup. That's not a statement, that's a shrug.
By virtue of their ownership of Staples Center and their hold on one of the most passionate fan bases in town, they have a huge investment in this community and its standards. Deciding that felonious violence toward women is worth only a week on the bench is lowering that bar to limbo-expert levels. Thirty-six years without a Stanley Cup is easier to swallow.
Three games?
Dividing Corvo's $475,000 salary amounts to about $2,638.00 a day in the hockey calendar, so his felony cost him about $7,500.
What is that, the cost of a new set of choppers?
Corvo will return to the ice Thursday at Tampa Bay with his organization paying a much higher price, that of being the first Los Angeles major sports team in recent memory to field a felon.
Local athletes have played after being convicted of misdemeanors, but a misdemeanor is defined as a "misdeed."
A felony is defined as a "serious criminal offense."
How serious? While serving a felony conviction, one loses the right to vote. In some states, that right can never be reclaimed.
Convicted felons often lose a lot more than that.
"My guess is, if you pulled a stunt like that and worked for a regular company, you'd be out on your fanny," said Dr. Rahla Hall Lindsey, a former USC professor who leads ethics workshops. "If he has been convicted, why are they still keeping him around? Why doesn't somebody have any backbone here?"
According to the L.A. Times handbook, if I was kicking that woman, I'm probably not writing this column. Grounds for termination include "Criminal acts which cause an employee to be unsuitable for continued employment."
Hockey, of course, is a different, um, animal. Does the manner in which the league promotes fighting by failing to outlaw fighting mean that this incident actually makes Corvo more suitable for employment?
That's not fair to the 99% of hockey players who are among the kindest and most accommodating athletes in sports, but you get the picture.
"It's a tough call, but you have to look at it strictly from an employer-employee relationship," said Casey Wasserman, the owner of the Avenger Arena football team. "You have to decide whether his conviction affects the way he does his job. If it doesn't, then you don't have a lot of room to do anything."
Wasserman was the last guy in town to employ a felon when he hired Todd Marinovich to quarterback his football team a couple of years ago. It didn't work, because Marinovich couldn't stay away from drugs, but Wasserman said it was worth giving him a chance.
"His problems occurred before he came to us, so we said we would judge him on how he treats us, and nothing else," Wasserman said.
If the Kings used that standard, Corvo would disappear for more than three games. If the Kings adhered to standards set by other pro teams, Corvo would sit until his rear froze over.
The Cleveland Browns suspended running back William Green this week for one game — one-sixteenth of his season — because he was accused of drunk driving and possessing marijuana.
Glenn Robinson was suspended for three games by the NBA at the start of this season for a misdemeanor assault conviction.
And remember when the Angels tried to run Tony Phillips out of town within days after he was arrested on a felony cocaine charge?
None of those cases involved something as serious as a convicted felony, yet all of them involved convincing action.
It's not that Corvo, 27, can't still have a long and rewarding career.
Craig McTavish, the coach of the Edmonton Oilers, is a convicted felon. So, too, are baseball's George Steinbrenner and Pete Rose.
But all have paid prices longer than three games.
The Kings declined comment for this story, referring only to General Manager Dave Taylor's initial statement about the suspension.
"... We felt this was the appropriate action," Taylor said in that statement. "... Joe's conduct was completely unacceptable."
That makes two of them.
October 30, 2003 Kings Suspend Corvo for Three Games
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings suspended rookie defenseman Joe Corvo for three games after he pleaded guilty to assault and battery charges earlier this week.
"We felt this was the appropriate course of action," general manager Dave Taylor said Thursday in a statement.
Corvo, 26, received a three-year suspended sentence Monday after pleading guilty in Boston to assaulting a woman in a restaurant last year when he was with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. He also was ordered to complete counseling and perform community service.
Prosecutors said Corvo grabbed a 34-year-old woman's buttocks last November. Restaurant staff told him to leave, but Corvo returned, punched the woman and then kicked her when she fell to the ground, prosecutors said.
The woman was treated for bruises and swelling on her face.
"I certainly regret my behavior and any embarrassment it may have caused my family, the Kings' and Monarchs' organizations, or the fans," Corvo said Thursday in a statement.
Corvo has three assists in eight games this season.
Another Kings' player, forward Ziggy Palffy, was arrested last weekend for investigation of domestic battery after a confrontation with his girlfriend in Manhattan Beach, police said. Palffy was arrested Sunday and released a short time later on his own recognizance, police Sgt. Steve Tobias said.
Palffy's lawyer declined comment. Kings spokesman Mike Altieri said the team would have no comment because it is a legal matter.
October 29, 2003 Corvo pleads guilty to assaulting woman
Manchester Union Leader Staff and Wire ReportBOSTON — A rookie defenseman with the Los Angeles Kings received a three-year suspended sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to assaulting a woman in a Boston restaurant a year ago.
Joe Corvo, 26, was sentenced by Boston Municipal Court Judge Michael Coyne to two years in prison, suspended. Corvo will be on probation for three years. He was also ordered to complete a batterer’s program and perform community service in Boston.
Corvo, of Oak Park, Ill., was playing for the Manchester, N.H., Monarchs of the American Hockey League when the incident happened on an informal team night out in Boston in the early morning hours of Nov. 13.
Yesterday, Los Angeles Kings management was still attempting to sort out whether Corvo had pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanors, or one misdemeanor and one felony count. Suffolk County’s spokesman for the district attorney’s office, David Procopio, told the Los Angeles Times that Corvo pleaded guilty to a felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — his foot — and one misdemeanor count of simple assault and battery.
A Kings spokesman also said it had not yet been determined if Corvo would play tomorrow in Los Angeles against the Vancouver Canucks. The NHL does not have a disciplinary policy for players guilty of a felony, but an NHL spokesman told the Times the league would review the court’s decision and take action if necessary. It is also unclear whether Corvo can leave the United States during the term of his probation.
Corvo, a 6-foot-1, 213-pound defenseman, was at Trio restaurant when he grabbed a 34-year-old woman’s buttocks, prosecutors said. Restaurant staff told him to leave, but he returned, punched the woman and then kicked her when she fell to the ground, prosecutors said. The woman was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital for bruises and swelling on her face.
If Corvo is arrested in the next three years he will serve at least two years in Suffolk County jail. One other count of indecent assault and battery was placed on file without finding. Procopio told the Times that the district attorney did not get “the committed time” he sought, but added, “we thought it important he have a guilty disposition on his record.”
Manchester Monarchs director of hockey operations Hubie McDonough said the players were not participating in any sort of team-sanctioned event on Nov. 13, 2002, when a bus was rented by a player and a majority of the team went out in Boston.
As for a repeat of an informal team night out for this season, McDonough said, “We’ll certainly talk to the captains to dissuade this sort of thing from ever happening again. I think they’re smart enough to figure it out, though.”
The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times contributed to this article.
October 28, 2003
Corvo Gets 2- Year Suspended
Sentence
King defenseman pleads guilty to two
counts in an attack on a woman in Boston Last Year.
He had faced up to 10 years in prison....
by Mike Bresnahan, LA Times
Staff Writer
King defenseman Joe Corvo received a two-year suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty Monday to two counts relating to an attack on a woman last November in Boston, a spokesman for the Suffolk County, Mass., district attorney said.
Corvo pleaded guilty in Boston Municipal Court to a felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, his foot, and a misdemeanor count of simple assault and battery, said David Procopio, spokesman for Suffolk Dist. Atty. Daniel F. Conley.
At the time of his arrest, Corvo was playing for the Kings' minor-league affiliate in Manchester, N.H.
Corvo, 26, must perform an undisclosed number of community service hours in Boston within three years. He also must complete a counseling program, Procopio said.
If Corvo is arrested in the next three years, he would serve at least two years in the Suffolk County Jail, Procopio said.
The prosecution argued that Corvo should serve 18 months in jail, but Judge Michael Coine's ruling called for a suspended sentence.
One other count, indecent assault and battery, was placed on file without a finding.
"Although we did not get the committed time we were seeking, we thought it important he have a guilty disposition on his record," Procopio said.
Corvo's agent, Justin Duberman, declined to comment, and Corvo's attorney, Charles Clifford, could not be reached.
The Kings had little to say Monday about Corvo's case.
"There's been a legal resolution today, and we'll look into the matter once we find out the details of what transpired in court," King spokesman Mike Altieri said.
It is unknown whether Corvo will play Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
The NHL does not have a disciplinary policy for players who plead guilty to a felony, but an NHL spokesman said the league would review the court's decision and take action if officials thought it was necessary.
Corvo was accused of grabbing a female patron's buttocks at a downtown Boston restaurant and lounge about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 13, according to the police report. He was asked to leave the restaurant, but returned a short time later and punched the Boston woman in the face, the report said.
The woman collapsed, and Corvo allegedly kicked her several times before fleeing to a nearby pub. The woman, now 35, was present in the courtroom and gave a statement that detailed the effects the attack has had on her, Procopio said.
Had he been convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, Corvo could have faced up to 10 years in state prison.
October 28, 2003 Corvo clears most serious charges
by Matt McHale, LA Daily News Staff Writer
Kings second-year defenseman Joe Corvo was cleared of felony sexual-assault charges Monday stemming from an incident in a Boston nightclub in November, when he was a member of the club's minor-league affiliate in Manchester, N.H.
Corvo, 26, was found guilty of misdemeanor assault charges and placed on probation. He flew to Boston for his court date Sunday and is expected back at practice today.
Corvo was accused of grabbing a Boston woman during a team function Nov. 13, 2002. Corvo was asked to leave the restaurant but later returned and punched and kicked the woman. Last year, he pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon -- his foot -- and indecent assault and battery, both felonies. He also was charged with simple assault and battery, a misdemeanor.
A hearing last June was postponed because of a family emergency in the Suffolk County prosecutor's office.
"Good things come to those who wait," said Corvo's Boston-based attorney, Charlie Clifford, who declined to elaborate on the case.
Corvo has appeared in all eight games this season, recording three assists. In September, he said he was hopeful of putting the incident behind him.
"It has taken awhile but it has not been a distraction," Corvo said at the end of training camp. "The fans in Manchester were very supportive. I'm not sure what it would have been like in a bigger city."
October 28, 2003 Kings defenseman pleads guilty in assault case
by Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) Los Angeles Kings rookie defenseman Joe Corvo received a three-year suspended sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to assaulting a woman in a restaurant last year.
Corvo was also ordered to complete counseling and perform community service.
Prosecutors said Corvo, a 6-foot-1, 213-pound defenseman, grabbed a 34-year-old woman's buttocks last November. Restaurant staff told him to leave, but Corvo returned, punched the woman and then kicked her when she fell to the ground, prosecutors said.
The woman was treated at a local hospital for bruises and swelling on her face.
Corvo was playing for the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL at the time. He has two points in five games with the Kings this season.
October 28, 2003
Kings defenseman pleads guilty in
assault case
by Tom Farmer,
Boston Herald, page 20
KING REPORT
October 27, 2003
Corvo Goes to Boston
for Hearing
Defenseman Joe Corvo left Sunday for a hearing today at Boston Municipal Court, where he faces charges that he sexually assaulted and attacked a woman last November while on the roster of a Kings' minor league affiliate.
Corvo, 26, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, his foot, and indecent assault and battery, both felonies. He also was charged with simple assault and battery, a misdemeanor.
Corvo pleaded not guilty to all charges last year. At the time, he was playing in Manchester, N.H.
It was originally believed the trial would be pushed back to a later date by request of the defense, but Corvo's departure Sunday could signify an attempt to reach a plea bargain, said David Procopio, spokesman for Suffolk Dist. Atty. Daniel F. Conley.
"If it was just a continuance, there's a good possibility he wouldn't be coming out here," Procopio said. "If he is coming out, perhaps his lawyer is trying to resolve this [today]."
A native of Oak Park, Ill., Corvo is accused of grabbing a female patron's buttocks at a downtown Boston restaurant and lounge at about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2002. According to the police report, he was asked to leave the restaurant but returned a short time later and punched the 34-year-old Boston woman in the face.
The woman collapsed to the floor, where Corvo, 6 feet 1 and 205 pounds, allegedly kicked her several times before fleeing to a nearby pub.
If convicted of the indecent assault charge, Corvo could face up to five years in state prison. If convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, he could face up to 10 years in state prison.
Corvo has three assists in eight games. It is not known if he will play Thursday against Vancouver.