SIDELINES : Tarpley to Fight Drinking Charge

Attorneys for Dallas Mavericks forward Roy Tarpley said today that they would fight a charge of drunk driving stemming from an incident last November and succeeded in having a trial date pushed back until the end of the NBA season.

In addition, Tarpley’s legal staff hired former Dallas County prosecutor Bill Alexander to help in their client’s defense. Alexander was the chief prosecutor 26 years ago in the state’s case against Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald two days after Oswald assassinated President John Kennedy.

Judge Mike Schwille set Tarpley’s trial date for June 25.

Tarpley, 25, did not appear in court. Only 12 hours earlier he had been on the basketball court in Sacramento, having been inserted into the starting lineup for the first time since being reinstated to the team last month.

Tarpley was suspended for the third time in his four-year career on Nov. 16 because of an incident on a Dallas freeway the night before. He was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and resisting arrest and the NBA-employed ASAP Family Treatment Center in Van Nuys ordered Tarpley suspended for violating his drug after-care program. Tarpley was removed from the NBA’s suspended list by Dr. David Lewis, medical director of the center. Since Tarpley’s return, the Mavericks have posted a 6-2 record.