Former Canadian Football League player could face up to 20 years in prison

Former NFL and Calgary Stampeders running back Lawrence Phillips was convicted yesterday of seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon for driving a car at a group of young men, injuring three.
The 31-year-old Phillips drove onto a field near Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum after losing a pickup football game on Aug. 21, 2005. He struck two boys, ages 14 and 15, and a 19-year-old man, and narrowly missed four others between 15 and 24 years old, according to the prosecutor.
The three who were struck sustained "severe bumps and bruises and cuts," Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks said.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated about an hour before finding Phillips guilty, Hicks said.

Phillips faces up to 20 years in state prison. A sentencing date is expected to be set Oct. 19.
The prosecutor told jurors that Phillips became agitated when his team fell behind in the pickup game. He left the field, accused the boys of stealing from him and drove onto the field at a high rate of speed, Hicks said.
Defence lawyer Leslie Ringold argued that the car Phillips was driving first hit the front wheel of a bike and fishtailed