QUEBEC – A former Quebec junior goaltender facing assault charges for an on ice incident believes police unfairly targeted him because he has a famous father.
Steve Magnan, the lawyer for Jonathan Roy, son of hall-of-fame goaltender Patrick Roy, is seeking to have the case dismissed.
At a hearing Monday, Saguenay police investigator Larry Boudreault admitted other players committed violent acts during the game but that only Roy caught the attention of police.
Magnan presented video footage that showed another fight in which Antoine Roussel of the Sagueneens suffered at least 10 punches to the head by Remparts player Maxime Lacroix.
“Do you think Roussel agreed to this fight?” he asked Boudreault who did not respond.
Magnan further suggested that all the spectators interviewed following the incident were Sagueneens season ticket holders who were sitting behind Patrick Roy.
“Did you try to talk to people who were not season ticket holders?” he asked, raising doubt about the neutrality of the investigation.
During the incident in question, the ex-Remparts player skated the length of the rink and pummelled opposing goalie Bobby Nadeau during a March 2008 game.
Footage of the beating was widely broadcast on television and the Internet and was the impetus for changes to how punishments are doled out in the Quebec league for extreme violence.
Roy received a seven-game suspension, while his famous father, who is the head coach and part owner of the Remparts, got a five-game suspension for encouraging his son to fight.
In a motion filed in court last month, Roy’s lawyer Steve Magnan, alleged Quebec’s director of public prosecutions issued a directive four months after the incident regarding how charges should be levied following sports brawls.
He argued the directive, which allowed for charges to be laid even if there were no injuries, was issued just three days before Roy was charged.
During the hearing Monday, Nadeau himself testified he suffered no injuries as a result of the beating and that investigators called him days before the charges were laid to double check that he wasn’t hurt.
Magnan believes the directive was modified so that his client could be charged retroactively and he wants proceedings against Roy stopped.
