Appeals court upholds verdict against Iverson

WASHINGTON – NBA star Allen Iverson must pay $260,000 for standing idly by and watching his bodyguard beat up another man in a 2005 bar fight, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the Detroit Pistons guard’s attempt to throw out the verdict decided by a jury in 2007.

Bar patron Marlin Godfrey accused Iverson’s bodyguard, Jason Kane, of punching, kicking and hitting him with a bottle because he refused to vacate the VIP section at Washington club Eyebar to make way for the basketball star and his entourage. Godfrey suffered a concussion, a ruptured eardrum, a burst blood vessel in his eye, a torn rotator cuff, cuts and bruises, and emotional injuries.

A three-judge appeals court panel wrote that Iverson stayed out of the fray in the back corner of the VIP area, standing on a couch or bench and observing.          (AP)