Appeals court upholds convictions of men who attacked Celtics player

By Globe Staff

The state appeals court has upheld the convictions of two men who attacked Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce eight years ago in an after-hours party at a Boston nightclub.

William Ragland was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the attack, while Trevor Watson was convicted of assault and battery. The attack occurred in the early morning hours of Sept. 25, 2000 at the Buzz Club.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court rejected various challenges by Ragland and Watson, including their arguments that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient because highly incriminatory grand jury testimony from a witness, which was introduced at the trial, was recanted by the witness when she testified.

The court said that the grand jury testimony was admissible as evidence, even though the witness told a different story on the witness stand, and that the sum of the evidence was sufficient to convict both men.

Ragland was sentenced in October 2002 to seven to 10 years in state prison. Watson was sentenced to a year in the South Bay House of Correction.

• Comment
• Permalink
• Email