Jury finds in favor of Pacquiao trainer
Manny Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, was cleared by a jury on
Friday of assaulting a former member of the Filipino fighter's entourage
at a gym in Hollywood.
After deliberating for part of Thursday afternoon and Friday morning,
the jury found in favor of Roach and rejected claims brought by Gregorio
Asuncion and his wife, Allyson, in a lawuit. Roach denied Asuncion's
claim that the trainer punched him twice outside the locker room of the
Wild Card Gym on October 20, 2008.
According to court documents, Asuncion was taken to a nearby hospital
and treated for a neck sprain and contusion to the head. Roach testified
this week that he only put his hands on the man's shoulders as he tried
to shepherd him out of the gym when Pacquiao was beginning to train.
He said he then squeezed Asuncion's shoulders in order to keep his
balance when he felt Asuncion pull back. Roach, 49, arrived at the court
in shorts and a sweat shirt on Friday just as the verdict was being
read. He leaned back and looked upward in apparent relief as his lawyer,
Arthur J. Chapman, told him the news.
Outside the courtroom, Roach personally thanked jurors, took a photo
with at least one of them and offered them all tickets to Pacquiao's
fight against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on March 13.
Roach said he was relieved by the verdict.
"I didn't get much sleep last night, but when I heard there was a
verdict after such a short time I believed it was in my favor," Roach
said. "I'm not a bad person. I simply asked this man to leave and he
didn't. I don't go around hitting people and if he wants to come back to
the gym sometime he can."
LOS ANGELES, Sunday (AFP) |