The precedent in most People vs. Young NHL Star cases show that community service is up next for the Patrick Kane.
Here's the way it is almost certain to go down in the Patrick Kane case:
The Chicago Blackhawks centre, arrested in his hometown of Buffalo, NY, after a reported night on the town and an alleged physical altercation with a cab driver over what amounts to loose change, will see the charges dropped or reduced down to minor misdemeanors.
Kane will do no jail time but, and this is largely for appearances and reputation rehabilitation, might agree to (and perhaps even complete) a bit of community service. No admission of guilt mind you, just a little something likely designed to both upgrade his now sullied reputation with local kids and allow the mayor of the city of Buffalo (who just two days before this incident had paraded him in front of the TV cameras to announce a taxpayer funded rehab of the rink in which he played his youth hockey) to save a little face.
The cab driver, who has his own share of problems that include a drunken driving conviction and revelations that he was driving Kane and a cousin with a suspended New York State drivers license, will likely support his lawyer's claim that the entire incident was "blown out of proportion." IN addition, the cab driver may concede that he may have actually contributed to the situation by not having the proper change necessary to accommodate the fare the Kane cousin offered and that he might have accelerated the incident by locking the doors of his cab with the two young men inside.
There might even be "photo op" showing the 20-year-old hockey player and the 62-year-old cab driver shaking hands and making a statement designed to show the youth of Buffalo that reasonable people can settle disagreements like men truly should, without the need to resort to violence or harsh words.
And how do we know all this?
Mainly because of the lawyers involved and the statements attributed to both.
Come on, what did you expect, a Kumbaya moment?
To understand all this an explanation of lawyering and Buffalo-style politics is in order.
Kane is a part of that. His family name is well-known in Buffalo, where he grew up and played hockey to a level where he was eventually drafted first overall by the Blackhawks in the 2007 Entry Draft.
That's no small accomplishment anywhere, but in Buffalo it is beyond huge. Sure it's a football town in terms of support for the Bills, but Buffalonians have sent far more of their sons off to the National Hockey League than the NFL.
Kane is No.1 in that regard: A true first overall draftee who came through with a Calder Cup trophy-winning season and then a more-than-credible effort in the playoffs last spring.
That's a source of pride in Buffalo; and especially in south Buffalo where the Kane family resides and where hockey is king. No exaggeration here; in south Buffalo's largely working class neighborhoods Kane is one of their own and his accomplishments are bigger than Buffalo's other source of eternal pride, having a bunch of adopted sons making four straight --albeit losing-appearances in the SuperBowl.
Even if Kane were viewed as a "punk" whose brush with early success has inflated both his ego and his head (and there are whispers that might have been in play in this situation) he would be one around whom the locals would happily "circle the wagons" regarding his defence.
This brings us to the lawyers:
It doesn't hurt that Kane -- presumably with the support of his family -- hired Buffalo and Los Angeles-based attorney Paul J. Cambria Jr., a defence attorney with an international reputation regarding success in criminal and constitutional law and with a client list that includes Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt and high profile celebrities like rocker Marilyn Manson and rapper DMX.
When you get Cambria you get one of America's best: a lawyer on par with the O.J. Simpson dream team of defenders.
He has won his share of arguments, including in front of the U.S. Supreme Court (see People vs. Larry Flynt either the movie or the actual court transcripts), but he's also regarded as a master of "winning" in the media and has already gone on the offensive saying "Patrick Kane never assaulted the cab driver," and "the fans shouldn't just turn on him because of statements made by someone who's claiming that he's a victim until they hear all the facts and circumstances. And then they can draw a conclusion."
Translation: There were only three men in that cab and two of them are likely to tell a story different than the statement the cabbie made to police and that's only the beginning of a vigorous defence.
But the clincher comes from cabbie Jan Radecki's defence attorney Andrew Lo Tempio, a criminal defence lawyer who though not on par with Cambria's reputation has a huge local following in the wake of a celebrated case in which he used DNA evidence to get a women out of jail and cleared of murder charges after years of confinement regarding the death of her daughter.
It was LoTempio who told a radio station in Chicago that the charges filed against Kane and his cousin aren't as serious as first reported.
"It's pretty much been blown out of proportion," he said. "It's a dispute over the cab fee and unfortunately Mr. Radecki didn't recognize Mr. Kane and just thought they were a couple of college kids.
"Some of the cab drivers here have a policy of not unlocking the doors until they get paid because they get beat on their fees by the college kids and that just kind of blew up."
LoTempio also said that any injuries his client may have suffered were "not serious" and that: "I think Mr. Radecki and I would imagine the young men, everybody has calmed down at this point, and I think that we should be able to work things out."
Translation: my client has his own problems, he didn't realize he was dealing with a celebrity and a person who is likely to shine the media spotlight back on him and, for a reasonable "settlement", this can all be made to go away.
Call it preferential treatment if you must, but it's likely that nobody in Buffalo or Chicago is going to complain. If the case is made to "go away" the NHL has a history of not intervening. Finally, add in how USA Hockey will likely figure it a dead issue come January in Vancouver.
Kane , who on the advice of his attorney, will likely say nothing until perhaps a one-and-done press conference come the start of training camp and what was once a huge media issue will be quieted. Once he scores his first goal of the season it will be done with.
Is it right? Not really, but it's the way of the world and nothing said or written is going to change that. Kane, his lawyers, his family and the people that employ him all know it.
In the end, only the stupidity of it all will endure and even that will be erased when the next case of bad behavior by an athlete, likely a very young athlete, who should have known better comes before us.
And right about then someone, somewhere will say, "Haven't we all seen this before?"
