Mistrial declared in Weis’ lawsuit
Boston judge Charles Spurlock declared a mistrial Tuesday in Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’ medical malpractice lawsuit after a juror collapsed and several doctors – including the two defendants – rushed to his aid.
The juror, an older man, began moaning as he listened to an expert testifying in defense of Massachusetts General Hospital surgeons Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin. Weis claims they botched his care after gastric bypass surgery in June 2002.
The judge immediately ordered the other jurors out of the courtroom, but some saw Ferguson, Hodin and other doctors who were in the courtroom rush to the collapsed juror’s aid.
Weis accuses Ferguson and Hodin of acting negligently by failing to recognize life-threatening internal bleeding and infection after his surgery. The trial, which featured testimony from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, was entering its second week.
College basketball
Illinois player charged
University of Illinois basketball player Jamar Smith – charged with drunk driving in Champaign, Ill., and leaving the scene of an accident – apparently believed the teammate in the passenger seat of his car had died, authorities said.
Smith, a sophomore guard, was driving a 1996 Lexus last Monday night when it struck a tree in heavy snow. He then drove the car a little more than a mile to the apartment complex where he lived.
Bystanders called 911 after seeing the badly damaged car in the parking lot, with Smith’s passenger, teammate Brian Carlwell, still inside.
Boxing
Morrison comeback set
Former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison is staging a comeback, saying that a positive HIV test that ended his career more than a decade ago was inaccurate.
“I’m negative and I’ve always been negative and that should be the end of it,” Morrison told the Associated Press.
The 38-year-old will face John Castle in a four-round fight Thursday in Chester, W.Va.
Miscellany
U.S. will bid for Cup
The United States intends to bid for the 2018 World Cup, hoping to return soccer’s quadrennial championship to the country that produced the highest attendance in the event’s history.
•A rest room fire at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans forced the final four races to be canceled and an evacuation of the track. No injuries were reported.
•The international cycling federation has accused Tour de France organizers of attempting to seize control of the sport. UCI president Pat McQuaid met Tour chief Patrice Clerc in Lyon, France, to try to resolve disputes between the two sides as it battles multiple doping scandals.
•There’s another delay in the trial of Curtis Jay Mullen, 23, charged in the crash that seriously injured Moose Jaw forward Garrett Robinson in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Mullen’s next court appearance is March 5, when it’s expected he’ll enter a plea.