If the Ray Lewis situation with the stabbings happened now

[Patler]

I think an equally good question would be: What would the Ravens as an organization have done if it happened today? I wonder how many years Ray had on his contract at the time? If he was suspended for a season or two, would the team have released him instead of keeping a player under contract who wasn't playing and obviously in the commish's doghouse (assuming a multiple year ban as stated above)? This of course is all supposition on my part. I wonder how many years Ray had on his contract at the time.

That is a great question. The league now also holds teams responsible for their players' conduct. Sort of a "one-bite" rule. After a player has screwed up once, the team is expected to work at getting him to toe the line. As a result, many teams are cutting ties with players very early in investigations. If it had happened today the same as then, it is possible the Ravens would have released Lewis soon after he was indicted for murder, before any plea deal was reached.

[sharpe1027]

Some interesting comparisons. There is no dispute that Lewis was involved in an initial illegal cover-up. The questions I have are 1) was there evidence to discipline him for anything else, and if not, 2) how long of a suspension should he get for the initial cover-up?

Goodell does not rely upon the criminal/civil courts to determine disciplinary action. Based upon his decisions with players like Jolly, he probably would not have accepted the plea deal sentence as the end of the matter. Still, other than obstruction of justice, what evidence would Goodell have had on Lewis? Perhaps not as much as it seems. Lewis admitted to initially trying to cover up the incident, but he then testified that he saw the stabbing of Baker (in exchange for a plea deal, which some articles suggest was offered as much for the lack of evidence as it was for his testimony.)

I'm not so sure Lewis would have gotten a year long suspension just for initially covering up the incident. In Jolly's case, there is absolutely no doubt that he personally did a series of acts leading to his suspension. For Lewis, it's really just one incident. While the seriousness of murder is without a doubt the critical factor, it's not difficult to understand his initial reaction -- even if he was not part of the fight at all.

To me, the difficulty for Goodell would have been whether to go beyond the obstruction charge. For that alone, I doubt the suspension would have been extensive. If Goodell went further and speculated about Lewis's involvement, he would have risked losing if Lewis challenged.

[Rutnstrut]

Ray Lewis was an accessory to murder, obstruction was just a nicer way of saying it and has a lesser punishment. Jolly is an addict/dealer, which I detest but imo it's a not as bad of a crime.

[smuggler]

Why is everyone calling Jolly a dealer? That was the sentence they tried to hammer him with, but it was based on a technicality because Texans can't do math. He was an end user.

[woodbuck27]

He pleaded guilty of obstruction of justice in a double homicide.



Lewis I believe turned his life around after this incident and became a better person. But it certainly appears he was involved in some way, and did not pay much of a price for it.

Lewis pleaded guilty in relation to the case: for obstruction of justice, a misdemeanor.

[Patler]

Lewis pleaded guilty in relation to the case: for obstruction of justice, a misdemeanor.

What's your point?

[woodbuck27]

Obviously Patler doesn't like Ray Lewis but Woody you're out of line for thinking somehow he cant express that and start a thread. It is actually a very legit topic. So slow your "nonsense" down buddy.

Sure.

[MadtownPacker]

Sure.

Thanks and let's keep that in mind for future threads and posts. You don't decide what is or isn't allowed here.

[woodbuck27]

Thanks and let's keep that in mind for future threads and posts. You don't decide what is or isn't allowed here.

That's never been my position to decide such a thing. I'm simply a member of Packerrats.

I have a different attitude concerning certain respect than some here. I don't want to bend that into certain argument.

[Zool]

Following a Super Bowl XXXIV party in Atlanta on January 31, 2000, a fight broke out between Lewis and his companions and another group of people, resulting in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Lewis and two companions, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were questioned by Atlanta police, and 11 days later the three men were indicted on murder and aggravated-assault charges. The fight occurred about 200 yards from the Cobalt Lounge at 265 East Paces Ferry Road in the Buckhead Village neighborhood about two miles north of downtown Atlanta where Lewis had been celebrating. The white suit Lewis was wearing the night of the killings has never been found. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard alleged the blood-stained suit was dumped in a garbage bin outside a fast food restaurant. A knife found at the scene did not have any fingerprints or DNA. Lewis subsequently testified that Oakley and Sweeting had bought knives earlier in Super Bowl week from a Sports Authority where Lewis had been signing autographs. Baker's blood was found inside of Lewis's limousine.

Lewis' attorneys, Don Samuel and Ed Garland, of the Atlanta law firm Garland, Samuel & Loeb, negotiated a plea agreement with Howard, where the murder charges against Lewis were dismissed in exchange for his testimony against Oakley and Sweeting, and his guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. Lewis admitted he gave a misleading statement to police on the morning after the killings. Superior Court Judge Alice D. Bonner sentenced Lewis to 12 months' probation, the maximum sentence for a first-time offender, and he was fined $250,000 by the NFL, which was believed to be the highest fine levied against an NFL player for an infraction not involving substance abuse. Under the terms of the sentence, Lewis could not use drugs or alcohol during the duration of the probation.
Oakley and Sweeting were acquitted of the charges in June 2000. No other suspects have ever been arrested for the crime.
The following year, Lewis was named Super Bowl XXXV MVP. However, the signature phrase "I'm going to Disney World!" was given instead to quarterback Trent Dilfer.

On April 29, 2004, Lewis reached a settlement with four-year-old India Lollar, born months after the death of her father Richard, pre-empting a scheduled civil proceeding. Lewis also reached an undisclosed settlement with Baker's family

[SkinBasket]

Maybe if Ray Lewis and his friends had stabbed woodbuck's boyfriend to death he would feel differently about the incident and being "judgmental" about a guy who was 1/3 of a group who murdered two other guys, fled the scene, lied about it, then finally reluctantly gave "testimony" to save his own ass and threw piles of money at everyone else involved to stay quiet.

But I'm sure he's a real nice fella. Kind of like a black Jesus. Who stabs people. And lets others take the fall for it. Which is kind of the opposite of Jesus.

[MadtownPacker]

Sounds like the trash was just taking itself out.

[SkinBasket]

Sounds like the trash was just taking itself out.

Well then Ray Lewis is like the bloody tampon that falls out of the garbage bag that no one wants to pick up. Especially with the white suit and all.

[MadtownPacker]

That's a fair way of putting it.

[pbmax]

I wonder what the story is with that knife. Having no traces on it at all is almost more strange than if the owner's fingerprints were all over it or a sheath. Did they have time to wipe down the crime scene?