Two Men Charged with Assault and Battery in Patriots Fan's Death

Despite Homicide Ruling, Evidence Does Not Support Homicide Charges, Says Norfolk District Attorney’s Office

Two Rhode Island men, John Vieira, 59, and Justin Mitchell, 39, have been charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct in connection with the death of Dale Mooney, 53, a New England Patriots fan who died after an altercation at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Mooney collapsed during the altercation and was pronounced dead at a hospital. The initial autopsy did not suggest traumatic injury but identified a medical issue.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later ruled the cause of death as 'probable cardiac dysrhythmia in a person with severe hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease during a physical altercation.' The manner of death was ruled to be homicide.
Despite the manner of death being ruled as homicide, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office stated that the evidence, including the autopsy results and multiple angles of video capturing the incident, did not establish a basis for criminal prosecution of charges related to homicide in Mooney’s death.
Vieira and Mitchell are set to be arraigned in the Wrentham District Court on different dates in January.