The Associated Press reports that two of the three defendants in the Paul Pierce attack on September 25, 2000, were given jail sentences Friday.

William Ragland ? a convicted killer ? was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a knife) and received a sentence of seven to 10 years.

Trevor Watson received a one-year sentence.  The third defendant, Anthony Hurston, was acquitted.

Pierce, not in court Monday, couldn't identify any of the three men when he testified during the trial. He was stabbed eight times, hit in the head with a bottle and had a collapsed lung,

Pierce was unable to identify his attackers.  But two women combined to identify Hurston, Ragland and Watson as Pierce's attackers when they testified before a grand jury 10 days after the stabbing. But both witnesses changed their stories after reluctantly taking the stand during the trial.

One woman fainted after the judge told her she could be jailed for three months if she refused to testify.
Prosecutor John Pappas suggested that the women changed their testimony because they were afraid of retaliation.

Pierce said in a statement, "I'm happy that this has come to an end. It was an unfortunate incident for all involved and I am looking forward to putting it behind me and focusing my attention on the upcoming season."

After being acquitted, Hurston said, "Paul's a good dude. He got us caught up in a situation we had nothing to do with.  He's a victim as much as us."  One has to ask how Ragland and Watson were victims.