Charges against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dismissed
Kareem Abdul Jabbar got popped at an airport
with 6 grams of weed. A dog sniffed it out.
He got a $500 fine and was released.
Reuters Story - March 19, 1998 22:11
Jump to first matched term
LOS ANGELES, March 19 (Reuters) - Charges against former
basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for an alleged attack on
another man were dropped by a judge on Thursday,
despiteprosecution objections, after he met the court's terms.
Abdul-Jabbar -- the National Basketball Association's
all-time leading scorer -- was accused of battery and false
imprisonment in altercation after a traffic dispute last April.
Jerry Cohen, a Universal Studios music editor, also sued
the ex-Los Angeles Lakers center, but later settled out of
court for an undisclosed sum and told authorities he no longer
wished to press charges.
West Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Joseph Bindman in
February ordered Abdul-Jabbar to undergo 36 hours of anger
management counseling and donate $5,000 to a youth program in
exchange for dismissal of the criminal charges.
Bindman dismissed the charges after determining on Thursday
that Abdul-Jabbar, who was not present in court, had complied
with those obligations.
Deputy City Attorney Mitchell Fox, who opposed the deal in
February, told the judge his position had not changed.
"I still object to this type of disposition because,
essentially, you're buying your way out of a violent crime," he
said.
Cohen told police the incident began when the 7-foot,
1-inch (2.38 metres) Abdul-Jabbar honked his car horn at him.
Cohen said he pointed to a parking lot he was trying to enter,
a gesture he said was misinterpreted by Abdul-Jabbar as being
offensive.
Cohen, who is about 5-foot-7 (1.67 metres) said
Abdul-Jabbar followed him into the parking lot and attacked
him, holding his face against a window and shoving him to the
ground.
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