# Remember the hockey dads from 2000? The story is timeless.



## Karatedrifter7 (Jul 13, 2007)

Remember the fight between the hockey dads of Mass 7 years ago?
The referee and the hockey dad got into a fight the referee died?
One could say that Thomas Junta had no business messing with Michael Costin whom he outweighed by 100 pounds. Although it looks as if he was attacked first.
 Perhaps it just boiled down to two jerks should be seperated? Although did you know Michael Costin had attacked police officers and had alot of violent run ins?  But people who knew Thomas Junta were suprised at the
actions of the "gentle giant"
What would you have done if you were in Junta's shoes to avoid being the real loser of the fight who gets 10 yrs in the slammer?
Its easy to say that would never happen to me.

Below is the story...


Defense attorney Orlandi said the younger children from *Reading*, including the Junta boy, were playing better than Costin's 12 and 13-year-olds from *Lynnfield*. Junta allegedly yelled at Costin to control the checking and hitting. 

Orlandi said Costin yelled back, *"That's hockey!"*

Orlandi claims Junta then took his son and the boy's friends to the locker room, but Costin came up from behind him dressed in full hockey gear, and began to argue again about the rough play and pushed his chest into Junta's face. The two came to blows, Orlandi said, with Costin ripping Junta's shirt, trying to choke him with Junta's necklace, cutting his face and kicking his shins and sneaker-clad feet with the 3-inch blades of his ice skates.

All the while, Orlandi said, Junta did little but protect himself before ''he leaves, he retreats.''

When Junta walked back into the rink to get his children, Orlandi said, he was set upon again by Costin, who swung at him as he entered the main doors, missed, then jumped on his back. After the two men hit a trash can and fell down, Orlandi said, *Junta hit Costin three times*, and it was over. 




Medical Testimony 


Forensic pathologist *Stanley Kessler* dismissed suggestions that Costin died from a minor assault or a hereditary condition and said Costin died after his neck was hyperextended and rotated  a wrenching that caused a major artery in his neck to tear. 


*"This is a substantial force injury," *Kessler told the Cambridge, Mass., courtroom. *"It takes a lot of trauma to tear ligaments and the ligaments at the back of his skull were torn." *


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## Carol (Jul 13, 2007)

The lesson to be learned is _*control*_.

Michael Costin had a lengthy criminal record, although his record was stricken from the jury in Thomas Junta's trial.   Costin was wearing protective gear when Junta killed him.  

There is another lesson to be learned, and that is one of background checks.  I'm from the area where the fight happened, and I am absolutely disgusted that someone with multiple violent convictions was permitted to be a youth hockey referee.


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## Mark L (Jul 13, 2007)

I remember this case, it's in my back yard too.  I don't know why self defense wasn't an adequate defense.  Perhaps the fact that Junta struck three times?  The description of the injury _could_ be the result of a single blow, especially when considering the huge weight differential.  So Carol is correct in indicating control should be exercised, but sometimes that just isn't an option.  If someone is physically after me a _second_ time and they're in the way of me getting to my children, I won't be stopping until they're incapacitated.

At the time of this event my sons were only 5, and in their first season of organized sports.  Since then, I've been on the sidelines for close to 30 seasons of children's sport, and can appreciate the calls by some to exclude parents (I'd include some coaches, too) from the games.  As to Costin's record, I've no idea why he wasn't automatically excluded from being involved with the game.  Since my sons have been playing sports anyone that can come into contact with the kids during the course of league events (practice or games) is subject to a background check (CORI).  I don't know whether this is at the discretion of the district or mandated by the state.


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## Carol (Jul 13, 2007)

The reasons why that I can think of is Costin was only 150 or so pounds, and Junta outweighed him by 110 pounds.  Costin didn't seem to die by fluke either; Junta broke his neck.


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## Andy Moynihan (Jul 13, 2007)

His own dimwitted testimony in court helped to sink him too: he claimed self defense, yet on numerous occasions he made it abundantly clear that "I wasn't afraida that guy, I wasn't afraida that guy..." 

That is not intelligent testimony to give irrespective of whether one was "afraida that guy" or not; those judging you must believe you were in fear of injury/death for your self defense claim to fly. 

The words "shoot", "self", and "foot" come to mind in no particular order......


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## Mark L (Jul 13, 2007)

Andy Moynihan said:


> The words "shoot", "self", and "foot" come to mind in no particular order......


Roger that.

The fact that Junta broke is neck is the curiosity: Is that what he meant to do and did it, or is that a consequence of the fact that his assailant was, by comparison, of trivial size?  I go about 190 lbs., if I feel a *compelling need* to stop a determined assaulter from messing with me and my children, and they happen to weigh in at 120, they're going to get seriously hurt.  Please don't interpret this as ego.  After many years of training I have been caught by guys of my own size with single strikes that have put me _down and out_, with really scary neurological stuff going on due to whiplash.  I've no illusions about the ability of a single, well place strike (intended or not) to have catastrophic results.  Maybe if Costin wasn't such a dickhead he'd be alive now, and if Junta's defense team prepared him better for testimony he wouldn't have had his life screwed up by the actions of the aforementioned dickhead.


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## Karatedrifter7 (Jul 15, 2007)

Interesting, I didint know that he had put his foot in his mouth like that.
Its inice to hear from some Massachusetts people that were more familar with case than me.
Thanks..


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