The people in courtroom 905 at the U.S. Courthouse in lower Manhattan were told to rise at about 2:35 Friday afternoon. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan entered and took his seat, and the next step in Charles Oakley’s civil suit against James Dolan and Madison Square Garden was underway.
Oakley and Dolan weren’t there. But lawyers for the former Knicks forward and the Knicks owner were. It marked the first appearance before the judge in the case. This was a pre-motion conference.
The motion will be from the defendants to dismiss Oakley’s suit for monetary compensation over 10 causes of action, among them defamation, libel, slander, assault, battery, false imprisonment and denial of public accommodation.