Stallworth to avoid manslaughter charges?
In a stunning development, Yahoo! Sports writes that Browns’ receiver Donte Stallworth could avoid a DUI manslaughter conviction stemming from the accident he had in mid-March in which he killed a pedestrian.
According to Florida’s DUI manslaughter law, there are exceptions under what is called “causation” of an accident. In short, someone who is driving drunk and causes an accident is not necessarily responsible if the other party did something to contribute to the accident. Florida statute 316.119 was changed in the 1980s to reflect that after a state Supreme Court judge ruled that the state’s previous strict liability standard on drunken drivers was essentially unfair.
The exception is based on the idea that if a drunken driver stopped at an intersection was hit by another car and the driver of the other car died, the drunken driver should not be held responsible.
In this case, Reyes allegedly was jaywalking at the time he was hit and killed by Stallworth. If Reyes was jaywalking, it could be argued he contributed to the accident. In addition, Stallworth claimed to have flashed his lights and honked his horn at Reyes, which is being interpreted by Stallworth’s side as a way of warning Reyes to get out of the way.
The article also states that Stallworth’s jail time could be reduced to as little as two or three months, which is just flabbergasting considering that he killed a man while driving drunk. This reeks of Leonard Little’s 1998 manslaughter case, in which he only received 90 days in jail, four years probation and 1,000 hours of community service after driving under the influence of alcohol and killing a woman driver.
I feel horrible for the family of the man Stallworth hit. Not only did they lose a member of their family, but now they also have to endure the pain of having Stallworth and his defense team try and prove that he was partly at fault because he jaywalked. Hey, if Stallworth wasn’t being an idiot and driving drunk, maybe this entire situation could have been avoided in the first place. What a tragedy.
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This is tough. The most natural response to this situation is that Stallworth should fry for the accident because he was drunk, and if he’s at fault, he should have the book thrown at him. But while one man has already lost a life in all of this, another man’s life is on the line in court.
Of course, I don’t know any more than anyone else about what happened that morning, but if Reyes’ actions contributed to the accident, is it fair to convict Stallworth of DUI manslaughter? If Stallworth was sober and the same exact thing happened, would we even be having this conversation?
I should mention that I’m a Browns fan, but I carry no allegiance to Stallworth whatsoever. He’s overpaid and didn’t contribute squat last season.
It was clearly a tragedy, but the victim was jaywalking on a busy causeway.
The law as written is very reasonable. The fact that he was drunk is just one aspect of this case. The tragedy would have been avoided if the victim followed the rules as well. I feel terrible for his family, but we need a balanced approach here.
I’m obviously alone on this one.
The law in this case makes sense to me – it really does. But when the blame is split 50/50 after one man drives drunk, hits another human being with his car and kills him while the other jaywalks and loses his life, it just doesn’t seem fair.
But that just might be me looking at this too simplistically.
You are not alone in your thinking, Anthony. I would also ask the question “would this be handled the same way if it was not a high-profile professional athlete?” The cynic in me says NO!!
I guess my point would be that Reyes may have gotten run down by a sober driver in a similar situation, and if that’s the case, does Stallworth deserve the max sentence?
Da Bear, that line of thinking may not hold much water in the post-Michael Vick era. And no matter who the driver was, I’m sure his defense team would be doing everything they could to get him off on the DUI manslaughter charge, especially if they have a legitimate argument.
I agree with G here. If the victim contributed to the accident by being negligent, then Stallworth deserves a lighter sentence. Even if he had been drinking, he could have been driving perfectly well and been just as surprised as a sober driver would be when he saw Reyes running across the street. Two or three months in jail is no picnic.
The whole flashing lights/honking horn thing is a little odd though…if he had time to do that, wouldn’t he have time to slow down?
I hear you, Jamey, but I still have a problem with it. I can’t swear about the details but I understood that Stallworth claimed that he hit the horn and flashed his lights. If he had time to do that why didn’t he swerve to avoid him? I don’t know all the details, but a sober driver may have been able to avoid the contact. Jaywalking vs. Drunk Driving ?? I can’t honestly compare them………..
We will be hearing about this law in Florida again when Jim Leyritz goes on trial for DUI Manslaughter as well. The woman that was killed was also over the legal limit so again, we have a case where the victim may have contributed to the accident.
As far as Stallworth, this is what the family wanted. They settled a civil suit outside of court and recommended this or a similar sentence to the judge in the criminal case.
Jamey…do you think if we were convicted on dogfighting charges that we would have gotten only 1.5 years, partially served under house arrest? I highly doubt it.
You know what, its situations like these that makes me sick. If it was regular people like us with the same lawyers and everything I can almost promise u that we would have much more time than 30 days. So is this how the real justice system works? If u have money then u can get a much lighter sentence. I’ve seen people go through similar cases (average people) and they’ve been given years of time.
I hope all you who want to throw the book at him run over a jaywalker. Someone jumps out in front of his car and now this guy’s career is ruined. I drive through that area all the time and people just run right out in front of you and expect YOU to stop. Bunch of crap. Now that guy’s family got a bunch of money, too. If he had been sober, would still have hit him. I feel really really sorry sorry for him.