Moore's lawsuit dismissed...

[badams]

A U.S. court has thrown out Steve Moore's lawsuit against Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi, saying case has no standing in Colorado.

Last week, lawyers for Bertuzzi and others asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit, saying Moore didn't have enough connections to Colorado to gain the right to sue in state court.

Moore, still recovering from injuries sustained in the game in Vancouver, is seeking unspecified damages from the Canucks, the partnership that owns the team, Bertuzzi, former player Brad May, coach Marc Crawford and former general manager Brian Burke.

Moore's lawyer Lee Foreman told Denver District Judge Shelley Gilman that Moore was a Colorado resident when he was injured March 8, 2004, and when he filed the lawsuit, giving him the right to seek damages in a Colorado court. He also argued that events leading up to Bertuzzi's hit started during a game in Denver Feb. 16, 2004, in which Moore hit Canucks captain Markus Naslund, leaving him with a concussion.

After the February game, Bertuzzi, May - who signed with the Avalanche this summer - Crawford and Burke met in Denver and planned Bertuzzi's hit as retaliation, Foreman said. He also said Bertuzzi, May and other players threatened Moore after that game and during a March 3, 2004, game in Denver.

The lawsuit accuses Bertuzzi and the other defendants of civil conspiracy, assault, battery and negligence.

Bertuzzi faced up to 18 months in prison after Vancouver authorities charged him with assault. He pleaded guilty in August and was sentenced to probation and ordered to perform community service.

He also was reinstated to the NHL in August after being indefinitely suspended. He missed the Canucks' final 13 regular-season games and the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2004, giving up about $502,000 US in salary.

Moore missed 12 regular-season games and 12 playoff games last season after suffering three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a concussion and other injuries when Bertuzzi grabbed him from behind, punched him on the head and then drove his head into the ice. Moore is an unrestricted free agent, but testified in court Monday that Avalanche officials have told him they plan to sign him to a new contract once his doctors clear him to play again.

Canucks lawyer Michael O'Donnell argued that Moore had no family or property in Colorado and no legal ties to the state either when his injury occurred or when he filed the lawsuit.

Burke's lawyer, Scott Barker, said his client wasn't even in Colorado for the Feb. 16, 2004, game and couldn't have participated in the alleged conspiracy.

O'Donnell said a state law governing lawsuits filed over events that occur outside the state requires the judge to dismiss the case because Moore was never a Colorado resident.

Foreman disputed that, saying Moore continues to maintain a local phone number in Denver, has important mail such as phone bills delivered to a Denver address and intends to return to Colorado once he is medically cleared to play. He also said Moore lived in Denver for several months after he was injured. Foreman also said Moore has held a Colorado driver's license, registered his car in Colorado and obtained a Colorado car-insurance policy.