Janet Jones, wife of hockey star Wayne Gretzky, and Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet are reportedly planning to launch separate $50-million US defamation suits against the state of New Jersey.
Jones and Tocchet were each implicated earlier this year by New Jersey authorities in an alleged illegal gambling ring.
Attorneys for Jones and Tocchet filed notice May 8 that they plan to sue the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, the state police and the head of the state police public information office for allegedly defaming them by illegally releasing evidence from confidential wiretaps.
Janet Jones, wife of Phoenix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky, is planning a $50-million lawsuit against the state of New Jersey.
(Associated Press/Gene J. Puskar)
The filings are not lawsuits, but Jones and Tocchet have two years to officially file a suit.
The court documents, filed in Trenton, N.J., were obtained by the Newark Star-Ledger and published in a story Thursday.
Tocchet and New Jersey state trooper James Harney were charged earlier this year with running a gambling ring linked with organized crime that catered to NHL players and celebrities.
The case against Tocchet and Harney continues.
No bettors were ever publicly identified, but two anonymous law enforcement officials told the Associated Press in February that Jones was among those who allegedly placed bets with the ring.
According to the court filings, Jones "sustained significant damage to her reputation and lost business opportunities" due to story.
The documents also claim New Jersey officials violated the state's wiretapping and electronic surveillance control act when they "illegally disclosed the contents of intercepted wire communications and evidence derived from those intercepts" during media interviews.
Tocchet's lawyer, Kevin Marino, wrote that the Coyotes' assistant coach has lost "future employment opportunities as head coach of an NHL team and … future endorsement opportunities."
Related
Internal Links
More Hockey Headlines »
- Flyers bust slump, beat Leafs
- Joffrey Lupul scored twice, and Daniel Brière registered his first multi-point game in more than a month as the Flyers snapped out of a recent malaise by pounding the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 Thursday.
- Canadiens romp over lazy Lightning
- The Montreal Canadiens outworked Tampa Bay all night on Thursday, winning the game easily with more than a little help from Lightning defenceman Filip Kuba.
- Canada goes to 2-0 at world hockey juniors
- Kyle Turris scored both goals to lead Canada's junior team to a 2-0 victory over Slovakia at the world championship, in a game featuring outstanding goaltending from Julius Hudacek in the opposition goal.
- Wickenheiser wins Bobbie Rosenfield Award
- Hayley Wickenheiser was named the Canadian Press female athlete of the year on Thursday.
- Canada down Davos at Spengler
- Second-period goals from defencemen Yannick Tremblay and Andre Benoit lifted Canada to a 6-2 victory over host Davos on Thursday at the Spengler Cup hockey tournament in Switzerland.
More Sports Headlines »
- Flyers bust slump, beat Leafs
- Joffrey Lupul scored twice, and Daniel Brière registered his first multi-point game in more than a month as the Flyers snapped out of a recent malaise by pounding the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 Thursday.
- Canadiens romp over lazy Lightning
- The Montreal Canadiens outworked Tampa Bay all night on Thursday, winning the game easily with more than a little help from Lightning defenceman Filip Kuba.
- Canada goes to 2-0 at world hockey juniors
- Kyle Turris scored both goals to lead Canada's junior team to a 2-0 victory over Slovakia at the world championship, in a game featuring outstanding goaltending from Julius Hudacek in the opposition goal.
- Wickenheiser wins Bobbie Rosenfield Award
- Hayley Wickenheiser was named the Canadian Press female athlete of the year on Thursday.
- Islanders' DiPietro has mild knee sprain
- The New York Islanders said Thursday that starting goaltender Rick DiPietro has a mild sprain in his left knee, and might miss as little as one game.
Sports Features
- NBARaptors Basketball
- Sun, Jan. 6 at 1:00 pm ET: Cleveland at Toronto
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window
