Yea sure I think it's every American' duty to investigate why people are on a sexual predator list.

On another note, bringing up the 9th place finishers name and trying to make a case that he is somehow suspicious or in cahoots is pretty far fetched and insulting.

Theres nothing "epic" about half the players in the "Epic" poke rleague.. So for them to stereotype, and not allow it to be just about the game is lolololol..... Poker players are notorius scumbags. So why would anythign be different now.

[QUOTE=DublingUp;28739528]Theres nothing "epic" about half the players in the "Epic" poke rleague.. So for them to stereotype, and not allow it to be just about the game is lolololol..... Poker players are notorius scumbags. So why would anythign be different now.[/QUOTE]

Oh really, speak for yourself.

[QUOTE=caseycjc;28739604] Sorry brah, forgot im supposed to just tell you what 2+2 thnks, and hoenstly im a live player, who lives in relative high society, and I can assure you, the general thought of a "poker" player isnt as high as you obviously think. Sorry to hurt your feelings, but someon needs to say it

Indeed it is. I registered and purchased the necessary public record searches, here's the complete court information:

Michael John Divita Case 256458

Michael John Divita Case 24001

Michael John Divita CR43908

Michael John Divita RIF147345

...for everyone's reading pleasure. The source was:

http://public-access.riverside.courts.ca.gov/

Compare and contrast with Michael's explanation

I don't know the guy either.. I'm simply asking a question. Are his friends part of the 'committee'? (committee might be the wrong word.. i'm talking about the people who supported EPLs decision, zeejustin etc)

I'm not trying to throw Xastons name into the mud here.. even if what i'm asking has any implications, I am sure it would have had nothing to do with Xaston.. merely some overly biased actions from his friends who wanted him to win a seat.

Some additional information:

LexisNexis article #1

LexisNexis article #2

Sex offender registry information

Banning, CA press release regarding the recent (dropped) 2008 charges.

He also apparently owns or owned a party supply store aimed at children, for what it's worth.

i tried to read through some of that and got kinda lost, what does it say.. i mean since you took the time and payed money to prove someone on the internet wrong, help us out.

I'm just presenting the information that is a public record, not passing judgement on what actually transpired.

My opinion is that his story sounds incredulous, and doesn't jibe with the number and nature of charges that were brought against him... but I could be wrong.

I'm curious to hear what more informed (legally speaking) opinions on the matter are.

Im gonna be honest here

I think this whole threads a little out of line. In life, you have a multitude of different people, one of the reasons a TRUE poker player sits in any live game is for the thrill of trying to put the whole story together. I cant say what this guy did was right, but I also dont think it should neccesarily be front page 2+2 news. Im a minor criminal myself, with a huge set of balls, does that mean if one day I ever make it, I should be worried about this kind of backlash? The guy can divide a 52 card deck by 4 suits, and make sense of it, thats not a crime. And if thats how this Epic whatever league wants to roll, im kinda thinking thats not right, just my 2 cents....

How many people played the satalite mike won? If 10 people played or 10k people played was it still 9 seats given away no matter what? if this is the case and the rules were stated as such before hand, then i think the epl has a decent arguement for being scum bags.

The point of this thread is NOT to discuss the charges against Devita. It is to discuss the EPL's disqualification (or Devita's withdrawal) of him because of his past, and whether or not you believe it was justified.

The fact that the "was what the EPL did right or wrong" discussion has been hashed out already doesn't mean you should switch to discussing Devita's conviction.

Put it back on the rails, and if no one else has anything to add to the discussion about the EPL, let the thread die a natural death.

It's absolutely not justified. Who ever new the game of poker had so many "social" boundaries. Doubt half the heros would even be who they are, if that was alawys the precedent. Pokers a game of real people, sometimes with real problems.

Part of the beauty in the game is that it brings people together, on equal terms (Ceteris Parabus)

how can devita's past be severed from this discussion? some people's opinions (EPL's, notably) hinge on the particulars of the past criminal charges.

i disagree, but i also am happy to allow others their forum.

I mean, if someone's opinion is that the EPL should be able to do what they did because convicted sex offenders have no rights, then that's pretty general. Discussing the specifics of a 20 year old conviction that none of us have any first hand knowledge of seems too far afield (and much too likely to get derailed).

IDK, at the beginning we had to keep the scope pretty narrow to avoid serious trolling/flame wars/derailing. But discussing anyone's past with such limited information, particularly about something so emotionally loaded and serious, seems outside the scope, since this forum specifically is supposed to be limited to poker NVG (yeah, I know, but we do try).

Maybe see how it continues to run?

It's a poker tournament not a social event , if they let him put his money up and win a seat he should be able to play . How does Epic claim Chino a champion but not let another player with a past play ? Thomas Austin Peston Jr a poker hall of famer pleaded no contest to a sex charge . Poker has a checkered past and many of the players do as well so let them all play .

You do the crime, you do the time!

After that, you have paid your restitution to society, and are supposed to be able to move forward. Given the chance, some falter, but not all. Some people truely do make mistakes, and dont deserve to be persecuted for a lifetime fo them.

The two lexisnexis articles seem to be the same. One interesting thing of note, it seems that prior to 1991 he had two convictions for sexual battery.

The original judge rejected his plea deal because of this but eventually he was in front of a new prosecutor and judge and a slightly better deal eventually went through.

They can only retract his winnings if he is in breach of the EPL's contract.

Sometimes, if you read fine print it may say,

"We reserve the right to remove anything we want.. blah blah blah.. with out justification."

So basically they can sometimes do what ever the **** they want as long as you agreed to it before playing (Without knowing).

However if no where does it say this then he can sue.

/Thread

PRIOR To 1991???? The guys not even old enough to have convictions like that, that logn ago. Unless I got the wrong guy

I think you think you are smarter about law than you actually are. (For you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning...3Kruger_effect ) Even if the T and C's explicitly stated this, that doesn't mean it is valid. Nevada gaming law is what really matters here, not some flimsy poorly written contract.

For example, if I write you a contract that says if you default on the loan I give you, I get to firebomb your car, that doesn't mean it is legal for me to firebomb your car when you default.

@Moki, thanks for good post.

Completely agree, but one act can bring dozens of charges. Over charging to scare people into pleading out is a very common practice in California.

I see nothing yet to what he actually did. If he did like he said and grabbed the girl and slapped her on the butt, that is sexual battery whilst the person is restrained...or it could be much worse.

Given his knowledge of the legal system that now comes to light, it seems as if he has a history of such behaviour. How it actually transpired is anyone's guess at this point, but it is probably not as innocuous as he makes it sound imo.

This happened 20 years ago almost, I see nothing more or less wrong logically with these charges than a DUI. How many people in the field have had DUI's?

Well obviously, that doesn't mean something actually happened that was bad. It usually means someone is folding when up against a broken system out of control.

Imo, he looks like a perv, has a history of being a perv, I think it pretty safe to say he's done something wrong. Still doesn't make it right what the EPL did, and it doesn't mean people pleading guilty actually are.

Merchant Ratings This guy is a nutjob

Wow, I guess people do not check out who they work with. In addition to being a convicted sex offender, this guy is a violent nutjob. He has a January 2010 offense for assaulting a public servant. I had the displeasure of running into this guy. He swore up and down at me and impliedly threatened me, ranting about "do you know who I am?" After looking up his criminal record, I do now.

April 06, 2010 by Jo in Banning, CA
Merchant Ratings public protest

Everyone in the community should come together and do a public protest in front of michael divita's businesses.

October 16, 2009 by john in Beaumont, CA
Merchant Ratings Registered sex offender-also owns The Justice Connection

This man is a known registered sex offender, running a business aimed at children. Michael John Davita, 5'8", 250lb., birthdate of 12-09-1958. You can find him on Megan's Law website.
Also, this man owns and runs The Justice Connection and has ripped off many people by taking their money and not doing the legal work he has promised. He has been reported for this.
STAY AWAY FROM THESE BUSINESSES!!!

September 02, 2009 by jenna in Banning, CA

This thread at 65 pages ..is starting to go well off its main intent...

There's a whole politics thread for the legal aspects of this..

I have some pretty strong opinions both pro and con myself over the whole matter, but they are well beyond the scope of what this thread was supposed to be.

I dunno where you draw the line at closing it. Maybe a better way to "give some closure" to this issue is end it with some kinda poll or something that properly captures everyones opinion on this with either a simple yes/no kinda question...or maybe a 3-5 choice 'closed ended' multiple choice opinion type question.

Otherwise..this things gonna go on forever