DERRICK ROSE LAWSUIT
LOS ANGELES (AP) Lawyers for a woman who filed a lawsuit accusing NBA star Derrick Rose and two of his friends of rape failed to disclose text messages to the defense, but the lapse was not significant enough to derail the civil trial, a judge ruled.
Lawyers for Rose had argued that the plaintiff’s lawyers purposely withheld three texts until the woman finished testifying so the defense couldn’t ask about messages that showed she had been plotting sex on the night in question and, on the following day, was seeking taxi reimbursement and not accusing anyone of rape.
The woman’s lawyers said the texts did not add new information. They claimed they were shared with the defense, though they couldn’t prove it.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said the accuser’s legal team had failed its legal obligation to share the texts, but there was a ”minimal amount of prejudice” against Rose and his friends.
The judge said he would instruct jurors that the texts were disclosed recently and allow defense lawyers to question the accuser about the messages.
NATIONAL ANTHEM PROTESTS
WASHINGTON (AP) – White Americans by large numbers disapprove of athletes protesting during the playing of ”The Star-Spangled Banner,” according to a new poll. Black Americans approve of the protests by even wider margins.
Some athletes have been refusing to stand during the national anthem as a protest of the treatment of blacks by police. The Quinnipiac University poll showed that the younger the person, the more likely he or she is to approve of athletes not standing or taking a knee.
The poll, released this week, showed that white Americans of all ages disapprove of the protests by a margin of 63 percent to 30 percent. Hispanic Americans disapprove of the protests by a smaller margin, 45 percent to 36 percent.
However, black Americans of all ages approve of the protests 74 percent to 17 percent.
PRO BASKETBALL
From Cleveland to China, the message was clear: There is real hope of the NBA and its players getting a new labor deal done in the coming weeks.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver revealed that the league and its players will resume discussions on a new deal next week. Those meetings will be a prequel to the league’s Board of Governors session in New York on Oct. 20 and 21, where the labor talks will surely be very high on Silver’s agenda of things to review with the full ownership.
In Beijing, where he was attending the NBA Global Games, Silver said he would return to the U.S. on Thursday and then planned to pick up where talks left off. He said he has been meeting with union representatives, including union head Michele Roberts and president Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, as well as owners who are on the negotiating committee.
BOXING
LONDON (AP) – Tyson Fury has vacated his WBO and WBA world heavyweight boxing titles to concentrate on his treatment and recovery from drug use and other personal issues.
Fury’s promotors released a statement confirming the decision. It comes in the wake of his second withdrawal from a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko – scheduled for Oct. 29 – after being declared ”medically unfit” by his team and following his admitted bingeing on cocaine and alcohol.
The 28-year-old Fury faced the prospect of being stripped of the titles when the British Boxing Board of Control scheduled a meeting this week and its general secretary, Robert Smith, acknowledged the heavyweight’s ”recent issues” would be up for discussion.
Fury has not fought since beating Klitschko in November 2015 to claim the WBA, WBO and IBF titles. He was stripped of the IBF title soon after beating Klitschko, for not fighting a mandatory challenger.
BASEBALL
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Mike Dee is out as president of the San Diego Padres, who were embroiled in a major controversy toward the end of another miserable season.
Managing partner Peter Seidler offered little insight into Dee’s departure. He denied Dee was fired, but wouldn’t say whether Dee resigned or if it was a mutual decision.
Seidler said Dee’s contract wasn’t set to expire until August 2018.
Whatever happened, Dee’s ouster comes less than a month after general manager A.J. Preller was given an unprecedented monthlong suspension without pay by MLB after its investigation revealed the Padres had withheld medical information from trade partners, including in the deal that sent All-Star left-hander Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox.
OTHER
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – LeBron James blasted Donald Trump’s crude remarks about women, calling it ”trash talk” while refusing to even say the Republican presidential nominee’s name. Tom Brady walked away from a news conference when asked about the candidate he has previously supported.
The responses from two of the biggest superstars in sports showed how much the 2005 video Trump has dismissed as ”locker room talk” reverberated through the athletic world, with a growing list of current and former professional athletes weighing in on Trump’s vulgar comments about grabbing women’s genitals and trying to have sex with married women besides his own wife.
James, who led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA championship last season, said the conversations he’s used to hearing in the dressing room have to do more with family, game strategy and other sports-related banter.
”What that guy was saying, I don’t know what that is. That’s trash talk,” he said.
Trump’s opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton retweeted video of the NBA star’s reaction to Trump’s comments on her Twitter account. Clinton received an endorsement from James earlier this month.
