Donte Stallworth Browns WR

[jlb1705]

Plaxico Burress shoots HIMSELF, gets two years in prison.

Donte Stallworth kills someone, gets to go home.

What the hell?!

[exhawg]

Originally Posted by jlb1705

Plaxico Burress shoots HIMSELF, gets two years in prison.

Donte Stallworth kills someone, gets to go home.

What the hell?!

It's all about the circumstances. The only reason Stallworth went to jail at all was because of the booze. If someone jumps out in front of your car on your way to work in the morning and they die you don't go to jail if there was nothing you could do to prevent it. If Burress' gun had accidentally gone off and shot someone else he would be going to jail for a lot longer than this.

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by exhawg

It's all about the circumstances. The only reason Stallworth went to jail at all was because of the booze. If someone jumps out in front of your car on your way to work in the morning and they die you don't go to jail if there was nothing you could do to prevent it. If Burress' gun had accidentally gone off and shot someone else he would be going to jail for a lot longer than this.

I would agree with you but the fact that Burress shot himself and the car that Stallworth was driving killed another person. That's a big difference. I think Stallworth's penalty was a little light and Burress's penalty was a little excessive.

[MaxBuck]

Originally Posted by Bucklion

So you are actually saying that even though he killed somebody driving while drunk and high on gonja, this should be treated like any other DUI? His plea agreement is between him and the law, but the circumstances have to be taken into consideration, no? Just because he pled out doesn't mean he didn't kill the guy.

The guy walked out in front of Stallworth's vehicle, during a time when visibility was limited.

I obviously don't condone drunk driving, but the unfortunate death of this guy should not IMO affect the NFL's penalty. Any drunk driving case could result in death; it was Stallworth's (and of course the victim's) bad fortune that this one actually did.

My view is that perhaps the criminal justice system should have imposed a sterner penalty, but Goodell's making him ineligible to play this season is Draconian and unreasonable.

Just MHO.

[exhawg]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

I would agree with you but the fact that Burress shot himself and the car that Stallworth was driving killed another person. That's a big difference. I think Stallworth's penalty was a little light and Burress's penalty was a little excessive.

If someone walks out in front of my car on my way home from work today and they die I would be [censored]ed if I see any jail time. Assuming Stallworth didn't do anything reckless I think his jail time was about right. You don't usually go to jail at all for a DUI. If you have an accident or run someone over not due to being intoxicated a month sounds fine. If you are plastered, miss a stop, and kill someone you should go to jail for longer. From what I've hear this would have happened regardless if Stallworth was drunk.
It's better off for the Browns. Now they don't have to pay this scrub to get hurt this season.

[OH10]

Anytime you get behind the wheel drunk, you have to accept the foreseeable result of your actions. However, if the reports of the video are accurate, this man's death was not a result of Donte's actions, but his own. Donte could have been stold cold sober and this guy still probably would have died.

Put me down as someone who believe Goodell overreacted to the result rather than the action. But I think his primary concern was with public perception rather than proper punishment. The public perceives Stallworth as having gotten off light and Goodell reacted to that.

[BayBuck]

Originally Posted by OH10

Anytime you get behind the wheel drunk, you have to accept the foreseeable result of your actions. However, if the reports of the video are accurate, this man's death was not a result of Donte's actions, but his own. Donte could have been stold cold sober and this guy still probably would have died.

Put me down as someone who believe Goodell overreacted to the result rather than the action. But I think his primary concern was with public perception rather than proper punishment. The public perceives Stallworth as having gotten off light and Goodell reacted to that.

I think there's a reasonable chance a person without the same substances flowing through his body as Stallworth had would have a better response time to swerve or brake and at least prevent a death if not a major injury.

And I agree about Goodell overreacting in response to public perception, but I completely support his decision in that regard. As commissioner he has the authority to determine punishments almost completely subjectively, and I think his tendency to err on the stiff side is good for the league and its image. There are a lot of guys who can play in the NFL, I really don't care if everyone with a misdemeanor has to forfeit their $M salaries for being arrogant or stupid (and even as Bills fan I think Marshawn Lynch got off light for his indiscretions).

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by BayBuck

I think there's a reasonable chance a person without the same substances flowing through his body as Stallworth had would have a better response time to swerve or brake and at least prevent a death if not a major injury.

The initial reports indicated that there were no tire marks, which lead to speculation that Stallworth didn't try to brake. However, Stallworth stopped feet after the accident, so it is apparent he didn't run through Reyes at full speed then stop. He was in the act of breaking when the collision occured. Video of the accident would seem to support this based on comments from Stallworth, his lawyers, the willingness of the family to settle, and the judge's leniency.

So, Stallworth had about two seconds to recognize that a pedestrian walked out from behind a tree on the median of a six lane highway and into the path of his car travelling over 40mph in 7:00am darkness during the morning commute. He flickered his lights and began to slow, realized what the object in front of his car actually was, then hit the brakes.

Two seconds.

He immediately called 911, cooperated fully, passed a field sobriety test and was released from the scene. The DUI wasn't even confirmed (nor the lingering positive from marijuana use a week earlier) until after bloodwork was done at a lab. He had been asleep for at least the last four hours before getting behind the wheel of his car, and surveillence video from the parking garage at his hotel showed that six hours had elapsed between his getting back from the bar and leaving the following morning. Even his drinking was broken up across two separate trips to the bar. He went once and had two beers. Left. Returned. Then had the four shots and left again.

The entire accident was filmed by a traffic camera and shown to two different judges and the family of and lawyers for the victim. The judge assigned to the pending civil trial allowed an immediate settlement. The judge in the criminal trial meted out a 30-day sentence. I don't know, but I'm inclined to think that if there were more to it, somebody involved in the judicial process would be squawking.

The DUI is a red herring.

[BayBuck]

Originally Posted by Dryden

Two seconds.

A lot can happen in 2 seconds at 40 mph. How long did it take to truly register what was happening just then? 0.2? 1.5? The bloodwork confirmed the presence of alcohol, and I don't anyone who's been drunk before could deny that there is a motor-skills effect not only while actively drunk but the morning after a bender as well. Sleeping it only halfway off is probably even worse for response time IMO.

He probably got a lenient end-result partly because he's a celebrity and frankly a bunch of money for the victim's family will do a whole lot more good than a few more months in jail. I might feel differently if it was the courts telling him he can't play ball, but it's his employer, and I wonder how my bosses might react if I caused a death with booze in my system. This guy who's made millions in his career playing football won't be padding his bank account this season, and I'm just fine with that.

[OH10]

Originally Posted by BayBuck

He probably got a lenient end-result partly because he's a celebrity.

If you're found guilty, this hurts you more than it helps. Look at Plaxico - the prosecutors made an example of him.

I think there's a reasonable chance a person without the same substances flowing through his body as Stallworth had would have a better response time to swerve or brake and at least prevent a death if not a major injury.

Of course there's a reasonable chance. In a criminal case, however, the prosecutors would have to take "reasonable chance" and turn it into "proof beyond a reasonable doubt." HUGE difference.

[BayBuck]

Originally Posted by OH10

If you're found guilty, this hurts you more than it helps. Look at Plaxico - the prosecutors made an example of him.

But in terms of cutting a deal or avoiding that guilty verdict, we've seen time and time again how much it helps to have the story splashed all over the sports/entertainment news.

Originally Posted by OH10

Of course there's a reasonable chance. In a criminal case, however, the prosecutors would have to take "reasonable chance" and turn it into "proof beyond a reasonable doubt." HUGE difference.

It isn't about getting a conviction, this didn't even go to trial so that's not the issue here. We're just sports fans/observers talking about whether Stallworth got a raw deal, and I know enough about alcohol to not give the benefit of the doubt to a guy with a 0.10+ BAC when a jaywalker ends up dead. And I say fortunately Goodell doesn't let him off easy either. All the better for Robiskie, after all.