Former Missouri Comets' defender, Andre Braithwaite has been officially charged with a Class A misdemeanor of Assault in the Third Degree by the Jackson County prosecutor for his actions after the Comets 10-7 loss to the Baltimore Blast that ended the Comets season. After the final whistle while Baltimore defender, Pat Healey was talking with Comets midfielder, Josh Gardner, Braithwaite walked up to Healey, put his hand on the back of his head and headbutted him. Healey suffered a gash above an eye that required five stitches to close.
The quotes from Independence police that were made after the event occurred made it sound like Independence police and Jackson County prosecutors hands were tied because the event occurred on the field, but it appears that is not the case and things will move forward.
When the Comets were reached for comment regarding the charges, the Comets said that they did not have one since the player had been released by the club.
While they may not want to comment on the charges against Braithwaite they may not be able to avoid a comment on this news that came out with the charges. According to the report, Baltimore owner, Ed Hale says that the Comets are culpable for the actions of Braithwaite and said he would be looking to file criminal and civil charges against the Comets owners.
To me that seems like that would be hard to prove. Braithwaite didn't have a history of behavior like this and it'd be hard in my opinion to make that argument, but I'm not a lawyer. I've also never heard of an incident where an owner has sued another in the same league for an action that took place on the field. I mean there have been instances of an owner suing another owner or suing their league, but this I haven't, I guess we'll see what comes of it.
The Comets are liable for actions of their employees, and there is a big difference between actions taken in the course of action of a game and actions taken after a game is completed. However, they would be liable civilly not criminally, as a prosecutor could not prove criminal intent or even criminal negligence against the employer in this case.
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