Stallworth Pleads Guilty To DUI Manslaughter

[mraynrand]

From Goodall via PFT: Pending my final determination, you will not be permitted to visit the club’s facility or participate in any team activities.

So much for going on the 'team building' outing to see the dog fights.

[Joemailman]

Hard Ball, I'm glad.

While I like what Goodell is doing in general, its hard to root for justice when the motivating factor behind it is money.

Was the Personal Conduct Policy in place during Leonard Little's trial?

The NFL unveiled its new Personal Conduct Policy in April 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2832098

[SnakeLH2006]

Pretty good and heated topic.

Snake's Take from posts on this topic aka PackerRat facts :

1) So as long as one is (seems) remorseful, let's be lenient and give them a lax sentence for justice is truly blind. 30 days for killing a man while driving drunk and admitting it...2 years for killing dogs. Both are douches, yet it seems kinda surreal when you think about it. Yes, I understand intent vs. an accident, but what kind of example does this lead to avoiding drunken driving? Don't 2nd offense drunk drivers face a mandatory 30 days? Just saying. Whether it was Donte's intent or not, 30 days seems pretty light and does NOT set a good precedent for future drivers who like to get impaired. When I was a kid, my grandpa got hit by an innattentive driver and killed while getting his mail. My family did not press charges as they did not want the woman to go to jail for an accident. She was not drinking. But if someone killed your significant other/child while CHOOSING to drive wasted, would 30 days satisfy you? That is the driver's choice to drive wasted and endanger society, not just an accident, and very dangerous to boot.
2) I do agree if the family is ok with it, 30 days is ok, but when the hell did that come into the equation for justice? Does money talk...looks like it. If this was some drunken mill-worker driving for more booze at 9pm and hits a jaywalker, does the blue-collar guy get the same sentence without an army of lawyers abitrating a lenient sentence WITHOUT a fat monetary payout...Still unlikely.
3) Ty, I'm a big fan of Dave Chappelle, and you, but Snake doesn't copy your style, as I didn't join LONG after you, but a mere 80 days after you in July 2006. Thanks for the pub tho.
4) If Snake wins the lottery, I could just get wasted and stage a few drunken manslaughters...3 off the ole hitlest...90 days. That's what it sounds like...but I gotta act remorseful, and have some cash-money to part with. Everyone would be cool with that?

[MOBB DEEP]

i forget, what exactly did jared allen do?

for some reason that cat rubs me wrong way...

[Joemailman]

I'm guessing the prosecutor agreed to the light sentence is exchange for the guilty plea because they weren't real confident they could get a manslaughter conviction if the case went to trial. If, as some have reported, the victim was jaywalking, it may have been difficult to prove that Stallworth's intoxication was the sole reason for the accident. After all, a jaywalker can be in danger even if there isn't a drunk driver around. If the jaywalking story is true, it's not surprising the family would want to avoid an extended trial. Having to listen to testimony that the victim may have been partially responsible for the accident would have made a very tough and tragic situation even worse.

[pbmax]

The sound of another shoe dropping (via PFT):

Video Exists Of Stallworth Accident
Posted by Mike Florio on June 22, 2009, 1:34 p.m.

A source with knowledge of the March 14 collision between Brown receiver Donte’ Stallworth’s vehicle and 59-year-old Mario Reyes tells us that a video of the accident exists.

Per the source, the footage was shot by a nearby surveillance camera that monitors the gates to Reyes’ workplace.

We’re told that the video shows Reyes walking into the highway in an area that does not contain a crosswalk, and ultimately walking directly into the path of Stallworth’s Bentley.

Stallworth’s lawyer, David Cornwell, declined to confirm the existence of the video.

The contents of the video apparently had a significant impact on the ultimate plea deal. Though the 30-day prison term and two years of house arrest light have triggered significant criticism, the ultimate question for a jury would have been whether the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Stallworth caused or contributed to the death of Mario Reyes. At a minimum, the contents of the tape, as they have been described to us, indicate that a reasonable jury could have found reasonable doubt.

Whether the video results in a reduced suspension from the NFL remains to be seen.

[Scott Campbell]

A video that showed a guy to be attempting suicide might change my mind on the situation.

[MJZiggy]

Yes, if that were the case, shouldn't they have dropped manslaughter altogether? Guess the prosecutor had to get his conviction...

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Wow. What a surprise.

Who woulda thought that the DA wasn't just giving light sentences for the hell of it.

Anybody who followed this saw 2 things:

1. THe daughter didn't want it to go to trial. Court appointed person noted that it would cause her emotional damage (or some term like that).

2. That the case was far from open and shut. Mario had crossed where there was no crosswalk..and that even sober, Stallworth might have hit him.

Ty is by no means exonerating STallworth for driving drunk, but Ty is also not letting a pedestrian off the hook because he broke the law as well.

[woodbuck27]

Stallworth details events before DUI crash in recorded police interview
AP

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8112f653&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true