The 1991 NBA Slam Dunk champion’s most important win in Toronto may have been in court, not at the Air Canada Centre, but at Ontario’s Court of Appeal.
Before Arrival
DeCovan Kadell “Dee” Brown began his NBA career with the Boston Celtics after being drafted 19th overall in the first round of the 1990 NBA Draft. Known as Dee Brown, he was popular for being the 1991 Slam Dunk champion. He spent seven and a half seasons with the Celtics, before he landed in Toronto.
Toronto Raptors (1997-2000): 118 GP, 10.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.8 APG, 25.1 MPG
On 13 February 1998, the Raptors first ever blockbuster six-player trade sent a disgruntled Damon Stoudamire, Carlos Rogers, and Walt Williams to the Portland Trail Blazers for Kenny Anderson, Gary Trent, Alvin Williams, two 1998 first-round picks and a 1998 second-round pick. Kenny Anderson refused to report to Toronto and was quickly traded away to Boston.
Dee Brown was part of this Boston trade. On trade deadline day 19 February 1998, the Raptors dealt Anderson, Zan Tabak and Popeye Jones to the Boston Celtics for the rookie point guard Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, John Thomas, and Roy Rogers.
As reported after the trade happened, Doug Christie was less than thrilled to know that he was not traded away and was stuck with the Raptors. Butch Carter had to ask that Toronto fans not boo their own players.
Dee Brown did not make a huge impact on the Raptors, but off the basketball court, he had to face the court of law.
The criminal trial and appeal
The facts are simple. On 1 November 1999 at around 12:55 a.m., a Toronto police officer engaged in general patrol duties on the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto, signalled Brown to pull over to the right shoulder of the road. The officer informed Brown that the speed limit was 90 kilometres an hour and that the respondent had been travelling “in excess” of that speed. According to the Canadian court records, the officer detected the odour of alcohol on Brown’s breath and suspected that he had alcohol in his body. Brown was on his way home from a Halloween party and said that he had consumed a couple of drinks. Brown produced a Florida driver’s licence on demand and told the officer that he played professional basketball for the Toronto Raptors. He failed the roadside screening test demanded by the officer who then arrested him for “driving over 80”.
“Driving over 80” in the province of Ontario means means that if you drive with more than 80 mg of alcohol in your 100 mL of blood, you count as driving under the influence of alcohol (“DUI“) and can face an impaired driving charge.
Brown was taken to the police station at 45 Strachan Avenue, which was the closest location where breath-testing equipment was set up. The subsequent breath analysis showed that the respondent’s blood-alcohol concentration was 140 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood.
Under Ontario law, this would fall within the definition of DUI. Brown was ultimately charged with driving over 80. He was convicted of DUI at first instance. This initial conviction would be the first battle before important appellate court battles for Brown.
Brown’s defense lawyers won his appeal. The summary conviction appeal judge, Trafford J., set aside Brown’s conviction based on his conclusion that the trial judge’s conduct of the trial gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias. Note that this was a procedural appeal in law, meaning the defense did not dispute that Brown did in fact commit DUI. The judge relied, inter alia (among other considerations) on the trial judge’s suggestion to Brown during sentencing that the accused apologise to the officer for the allegations against the officer for committing racial profiling against Brown.
The Crown prosecutor appealed to the Court of Appeal of Ontario. The court process had moved to 2003. Brown had since retired but flew back to Toronto to face the legal court one more time.
In Her Majesty the Queen v. Brown, there was only one issue raised at the ensuing trial: what was the reason for the officer stopping Brown on the Don Valley Parkway? Was it because the respondent was speeding and had twice crossed out of and back into the lane in which he was travelling, as testified to by the officer, or was it because he was a young black male driving an expensive car?
On 16 April 2003, the judges found for the latter. The Crown’s appeal was dismissed and Brown ‘s conviction was set aside. Brown may have won the most important court battle and it was not on an NBA court. For those interested in all the legal details detailing the explaining the legal reasoning behind a judge’s reasonable apprehension of bias, read the full judgement here.
Brown was not the only Raptor that had alcohol issues. Keon Clark was sentenced to prison for crimes related to his alcohol and drug abuse after his NBA career ended.
The Departure
Brown left via free agency in 2000 and on 3 August 2000, signed a contract with the Orlando Magic. He retired in 2002. He has been in NBA management and is now a Director of Player Programs of the Los Angeles Clippers since 2019-2020.
The Card: 1999-00 Topps Chrome #85
The 1999-2000 Topps Chrome set contained 257 cards of players. The Chrome brand was extremely popular when the basketball set began back in the 1996-1997 until 2008-2009. The chrome effect on the standard base cards elevates the look of the card with a shiny effect. The card back contains a complete NBA record and a short highlight.
Topps left producing NBA basketball cards when it lost its NBA license to the Italian group Panini S.p.A, which signed an exclusive trading card agreement with the NBA beginning the 2009-2010 season.
As of the date of this post, Dee Brown did not have an autographed or relic Toronto Raptors card issued by any trading card company.
As for the card itself, was using a photo featuring two “Browns” (no relations) on the card an Easter egg by Topps? The player on the left of Dee Brown was Charlotte Hornet’s #52, Chucky Brown. Brown had an extensive career and played in the NBA for 13 years (1989-2002). During that span, he played for twelve different teams, but never for the Raptors. Those teams were the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, and the Sacramento Kings. He won a championship with the Houston Rockets.
Resource:
MoCC 