A Colorado state court judge has dismissed the claim of a professional hockey player, who had sued another hockey player over a hit on the ice that broke his neck.
Denver District Judge Shelley Gilman held specifically that former Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore had failed to prove that the Vancouver Canuck’s Todd Bertuzzi, the assailant, and others had conspired to deliver the hit, which took place in the spring of 2004 in Vancouver.
Moore, who was represented by attorney Lee Foreman, had sought unspecified damages from Bertuzzi, the Canucks, team owner Orca Bay Hockey Limited Partnership, coach Marc Crawford, former general manager Brian Burke and former Canucks player Brad May.
Another factor in the judge’s decision to dismiss the case was that the incident happened in Canada and that all the defendants are Canadian citizens or businesses headquartered in Canada.
“British Columbia bears the most significant relationship to Moore’s claims,” she wrote. Further, she highlighted a new state law that was created in response to a backlog of cases in her state, which makes it harder for non-residents to file lawsuits in the state.
The plaintiff had filed in Colorado, claiming the alleged conspiracy took place a month before the incident in Denver.
