Legal cloud still hangs over Chara
Posted October 26, 2011 3:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is set to make his return to Montreal, with his legal status still in limbo.
Quebec’s director of criminal prosecutions hasn’t yet made a decision on whether to lay criminal charges over the brutal hit on Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty.
Seven months removed from the hit that ended Pacioretty’s season, a prosecutor says the case remains under study.
Crown prosecutor Jean-Pascal Boucher says today that his office continues to study the file.
Chara is making his way back to Montreal for the first time this NHL season for a game on Saturday.
The big defenceman shoved Pacioretty into a stanchion, breaking a vertebra and ending his season on March 8, receiving a game misconduct but no further action.
Amid a public outcry, Quebec’s director of criminal prosecutions ordered an investigation into the hit. Some legal experts have deemed it highly unlikely that Chara would be prosecuted.
The probe took months to complete, partly because of the Bruins’ lengthy playoff run during which Montreal police delayed interviewing Chara.
Chara went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Bruins. Pacioretty has fully recovered and returned this season to the Canadiens; he has been one of the struggling team’s rare strong performers.
Montreal police concluded their investigation in August, but the Crown warned it would take time to come to a final decision.
