Donte Stallworth hit and killed a pedestrian

[seesred]

He gets off because of MONEY, not fame. He has the 5mil without blinking an eyelash, hell it keeps him out of a long jail term. However, IMO, the guys an NFL player, he is overpaid and the family is poor. The Dad is not coming home, PERIOD! THe player 30 days and out. You know what he will be doing sometimes working out so he can make that 5 mil back in one season. Of course he probably take some time off for drinking and party hardy nights. The guy worked on a crane at nights. Going home DEAD.

GBR
40

 

[cardsfanmd]

Come on, you're grasping at straws and you know it. Jersey sales are based on several factors. Fan base, availability, etc.

Chris Cooley was the 22nd most sold jersey last year. Is he the 22nd most famous player?

Yes. He is the most popular player by a mile on a team with one of the biggest fanbases in professional sports.

Where is James Harrison on this list?

Who knows and who cares, Pittsburgh player jersey sales are irrelevant as most of their fans are illiterate and don't know what the shirt says anyhow.

Where is Ray Lewis?

Lewis probably isn't very high on the list anymore because he is old and Baltimore fans have had 10 years to stock up on his jersey. A better testament to fame/popularity would be overall career jersey sales or PB votes.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/126730[/QUOTE]

 

[Shane]

Come on, you're grasping at straws and you know it. Jersey sales are based on several factors. Fan base, availability, etc.

Chris Cooley was the 22nd most sold jersey last year. Is he the 22nd most famous player? Where is James Harrison on this list? Where is Ray Lewis?

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/126730

Jersey sells is a direct correlation to popularity. Cooley is obviously popular. Cardsfanmd did a good job explaining. Also if you don't like the use of jersey sales try the ultimate popularity/ fame contest. Pro Bowl votes. It's not an exact science ryan but you can measure fame and popularity.

 

[cardsfanmd]

You're missing the point... It's not my decision what jobs a felon can get. However, a felon can't get a job at the state or federal level, 99% of corporate jobs, or really ever settle into a career. Their options are retail jobs, physical labor or self employment.

If corporate America will not hire a felon, why does the NFL? These guys have trading cards, appear in your child's video games. Why are they eligible for this when they couldn't even get a job at Walgreens (they background check, my cousin will attest to this)?

Again, if I killed someone, my company would instantly fire me and I would never be allowed to return. Moreover I would likely not find another position that has the same earning potential This guy will be welcomed back after he serves a suspension. There's something not right about that.

To sum it up: Average American = Screwed if they commit a felony. NFL Player = Mildly inconvinienced

I for one am appreciative of the NFL for giving these guys work. If they weren't playing football many of them would be criminals or drains on the economy whereas now they are stimulating it. Now they are in the upper tax bracket that's really getting screwed courtesy of our country's current path towards socialism.

Without the NFL, Obama's tax plan would be destroying many more of us. Wait, I forgot, big companies cant fail anymore so our taxes would probably just go up as part of a new spending bill so these guys could make millions for playing a child's game yet again.

 

[joeshmo]

The punishment is a little harsher then originally reported.

30 days in jail
5 mill paid to the family
1000 hours of ommunity service
10 years probation

Here are the new items on top of that -

Donation to two different charities
2 years house arrest
lifetime forfeiture of his driver’s license

I am a little more down with those extra items we didnt orginally know about, especially the lifetime forfeiture of his drivers license.

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

lifetime forfeiture of his driver’s license

I am a little more down with those extra items we didnt orginally know about, especially the lifetime forfeiture of his drivers license.

Oh thank God, they took away his license forever, we can all rest easy knowing he will never drive again in this lifetime.

 

[Shane]

lifetime forfeiture of his driver’s license

Just in the state of FL. I assume?

 

[titan]

thats still getting off to easy. awhile back this guy was dating my younger sister. he drank a little too much and ran over a woman riding a bicycle and killed her. he got 5 years in prison and 5 or more years probation. i have to admit after he got out he was a changed man. he told how sorry he was and quit drinking. he did serve the full 5 years. i wonder if this will change donte.

 

[TJ]

First Degree Vehicular Manslaughter carries a sentence recommendation of 3-15 years in prison. The fact that he was intoxicated exacerbates the situation; thus, he should have had the book thrown at him a little harder. Then again, the scales of justice always seem to tip in favor of the celebrity.

 

[lauraw]

What will Goodell do about this?

 

[imaCafan]

21 year old girl gets mixed up in some credit card fraud with her husband and his friend. No major amount, not even tens of thousands. May have been a few thousand at most. Somehow husband gets off and she takes the fall. Punishment? 4 years in jail. Now tell me our justice system isn't screwed up!!!!

 

[cgolden]

2 years house arrest

This is the one that interests me. I'm not real informed on the terms of a house arrest but does that mean that he couldn't go the "work" (aka practice or games if he was in the NFL)?

If that's the case, then his NFL career is probably over. All he ever had was speed and at 30 or 31, two years removed from football, he'll probably have lost enough of his speed that no team will have any use for him.

 

[jmt]

21 year old girl gets mixed up in some credit card fraud with her husband and his friend. No major amount, not even tens of thousands. May have been a few thousand at most. Somehow husband gets off and she takes the fall. Punishment? 4 years in jail. Now tell me our justice system isn't screwed up!!!!

Yeah that, but lots of folks are in jail for less severe crimes, especially drug offenses. I wonder though why Michael Vick does hard time for killing dogs (I'm a dog lover and what he did was crimal and sadistic) while guys like Little and Stallworth basically go free for killing people?

 

[joeshmo]

This is the one that interests me. I'm not real informed on the terms of a house arrest but does that mean that he couldn't go the "work" (aka practice or games if he was in the NFL)?

If that's the case, then his NFL career is probably over. All he ever had was speed and at 30 or 31, two years removed from football, he'll probably have lost enough of his speed that no team will have any use for him.

Not sure how it will work in this case by I have employeed some former criminals on a work release basis from time to time to do construction. They were under house arrest but were allowed to leave the house for work and they had to wear the ankle braclet with a GPS in it. I would get a call once a week from the probation officer asking where they worked that week so they could check it with the GPS map they had of the guy.

So if they let Donte do the same thing I am not sure the NFL would want a guy playing and practicing in a very visable ankle braclet? We will see.

 

[joeshmo]

Just in the state of FL. I assume?

You could have it suspended in one state, move to another state and get another liscense free and clear? I didnt know that. I thought your MVD record followed you everywhere. So technically you could have your liscence suspended in 49 states then move to Alaska and still get a liscense? Something just seems very wrong with that.

 

[cgolden]

So if they let Donte do the same thing I am not sure the NFL would want a guy playing and practicing in a very visable ankle braclet? We will see.

That would be hilarious. I can just see it now, Stallworth catches a ball over the middle, sprints down the sidelines and ohhhh he's dragged down with an ankle bracelet tackle.

 

[CardLogic]

Yeah that, but lots of folks are in jail for less severe crimes, especially drug offenses. I wonder though why Michael Vick does hard time for killing dogs (I'm a dog lover and what he did was crimal and sadistic) while guys like Little and Stallworth basically go free for killing people?

Good point, jmt! I guess our society places more value on the lives of some dogs than it does on a person...

 

[earthsci]

Just in the state of FL. I assume?

Joe kind of addressed this and I'm asking, not challenging you, but because I don't know - If my license is suspended in AZ because of a DUI, I can't move to NV a get a license can I?

 

[Southpaw]

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/new...g/2009/06/nfls_stallworth_plea_justice_b.html

Sun Sentinel , Michael Mayo

NFL’s Stallworth plea: Justice by checkbook?
> Posted by Michael Mayo on June 17, 2009 01:03 PM

Here’s the thing that bothers me about NFL player Donte Stallworth’s lenient plea deal for DUI manslaughter: It’s not so much the light jail sentence (30 days), as the troubling lesson that those who are able to write a big check to a grieving family can influence their criminal punishment.

So much for our justice system supposedly being blind.

So much for the law applying equally to all.

Stallworth admitted he was legally drunk when he fatally struck a construction worker improperly crossing a Miami Beach causeway in March.

Stallworth reached a confidential settlement with the victim’s family, and they agreed to a quick resolution to the criminal case that let him avoid a potential 15-year prison sentence.

“He’s being punished appropriately,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told the Miami Herald. “This is what the family wanted.”

That’s where this gets uncomfortable.

Because let’s say Stallworth, a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, wasn’t wealthy. Let’s say the defendant was middle-class, and there was no settlement.

Without money, might the victim’s family have harder feelings and press for longer incarceration?

Since a victim’s family’s wishes are given considerable weight by prosecutors, that means the wealthy have a better chance of buying their way to sympathy and leniency than the non-wealthy.

That seems an unfair advantage.

Without doing a complete analysis of DUI manslaughter sentences for first-time criminal offenders, I can’t say for sure if the jail/prison time was out of whack. (If there are any lawyers or courtroom veterans out there who could give some perspective, feel free to chime in.)

But I do know plenty of people who’ve spent more than 30 days in jail on misdemeanor charges (not even convictions) of trespassing, shoplifting, public intoxication and resisting arrest. All were poor, and couldn’t afford the minimal bond to go free before the cases were resolved.

So you tell me there isn’t a double standard in our justice system.

One more thing to consider. Remember David Farrell, the former FBI agent involved in a crash on Interstate 95 that killed two brothers when one car was going the wrong way.

Farrell was acquitted of DUI manslaughter, but a Broward jury convicted him for DUI and reckless driving.

He got 90 days in jail.

Stallworth should consider himself very lucky.

 

[earthsci]

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/new...g/2009/06/nfls_stallworth_plea_justice_b.html

Sun Sentinel , Michael Mayo

Good post wally. This (the sentence) just seems wrong.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

while I agree that the sentence does seem light I find it laughable that people are drawing a comparison to vick and his sentence and then making the even larger jump that "people care more about dogs"

they were convicted of completely different crimes that spanned different time periods and provided different levels of cooperation

if vick was blitzed out of his mind and ran over someones puppy he probably wouldn't of been caught, let alone handed the same sentance that stallworth received

i'm hearing this jump all over the place and it just doesn't make sense

 

[Southpaw]

What is the difference?

Bruce D. Kimball (born June 11, 1963 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American diver and coach. He won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Three years before the Olympics, in 1981, Kimball was struck head-on by a drunken driver. Every bone in his face was fractured, his left leg broken, the ligaments in his knee torn, his liver was lacerated, and his spleen had to be removed. This being one of the worst experiences of his life, he did come back to diving. When he returned to diving nine months later, he earned the nickname "The Comeback Kid".

At the 1984 Summer Olympics, he overtook Li Kongzheng with his final dive to win the silver medal.

On August 1, 1988, two weeks before the U.S. Olympic diving trials, Kimball, drunk, plowed into a crowd of teenagers while driving an estimated 70 to 90 miles per hour, killing two boys and injuring four others. Despite the tragedy, Kimball took part in the trials, but failed to make the team. He subsequently pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He was released on 24 November 1993, after serving less than five. As a part of his sentence, his driving privileges were permanently revoked by Judge Harry Lee Coe.

Shortly before Christmas 2004 after an appeal to the Secretary of State of Illinois, it was found that he can apply for an Illinois drivers license. However, according to Florida authorities, his driving privileges are still revoked but he can apply for a hardship license which allows driving for business purposes and other purposes.

He is currently a Kinetic Wellness teacher and diving coach for the swimming and diving teams at New Trier High School, Winnetka, Illinois. As of 2008, he is married and has three children. His father is Dick Kimball, who coached nine divers to Olympic medals.

 

[cardsfanmd]

What is the difference?

Bruce D. Kimball (born June 11, 1963 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American diver and coach. He won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Three years before the Olympics, in 1981, Kimball was struck head-on by a drunken driver. Every bone in his face was fractured, his left leg broken, the ligaments in his knee torn, his liver was lacerated, and his spleen had to be removed. This being one of the worst experiences of his life, he did come back to diving. When he returned to diving nine months later, he earned the nickname "The Comeback Kid".

At the 1984 Summer Olympics, he overtook Li Kongzheng with his final dive to win the silver medal.

On August 1, 1988, two weeks before the U.S. Olympic diving trials, Kimball, drunk, plowed into a crowd of teenagers while driving an estimated 70 to 90 miles per hour, killing two boys and injuring four others. Despite the tragedy, Kimball took part in the trials, but failed to make the team. He subsequently pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He was released on 24 November 1993, after serving less than five. As a part of his sentence, his driving privileges were permanently revoked by Judge Harry Lee Coe.

Shortly before Christmas 2004 after an appeal to the Secretary of State of Illinois, it was found that he can apply for an Illinois drivers license. However, according to Florida authorities, his driving privileges are still revoked but he can apply for a hardship license which allows driving for business purposes and other purposes.

He is currently a Kinetic Wellness teacher and diving coach for the swimming and diving teams at New Trier High School, Winnetka, Illinois. As of 2008, he is married and has three children. His father is Dick Kimball, who coached nine divers to Olympic medals.

JMHO

1) Had Stallworth not been drunk he would be in no trouble whatsoever. The man was jaywalking and should have been looking where he was going. I know it sounds insensitive, but it's the truth.

2) Kimball hit a group of kids. He killed 2 of them and injured 4 more. Stallorth only touched one person. While possibly not fair, you are definitely better off killing an old immigrant or illegal alien than a child or woman. Nothing is ever worse than losing a child, nothing. Kimball killed 2 of them.

3) Kimball was a diver man, a DIVER. He didn't have any money and was not a celebrity. I dont know anyone who could name anybody from the last Olympics' diving team. College football players are bigger celebrities than divers. Would you know who he was if he hadn't of killed those kids? Stallworth had enough money to hire top-shelf legal representation. Unless it was given to him by someone else, Kimball surely couldn't afford such a legal team.

4) In the end, he only did few years anyhow.

5)

 

[Southpaw]

South Florida again.

I am outraged at the plea agreement this week between the Miami State Attorney's Office and Cleveland Browns player, Donte Stallworth, charged with DUI manslaughter. He got just 30 days in jail! My son, Sean Casey, was charged for the same traffic offense and prosecutors gave him over 12 years in prison in 2006 even though evidence and experts say he could not have been driving the car. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle called Stallworth's plea a "just resolution" since Stallworth had no prior record. My son did not either. Sean graduated with honors from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, worked for nearly a decade at a local non-profit organization promoting human rights and free speech, and was planning to join the diplomatic corp at the U.S. Department of State. However, there is a big difference between the two cases. Stallworth's attorney cooperated with prosecutors and paid the victim's family an undisclosed amount of money. Sean's attorney, Milton "Milt" Hirsch, fought with the prosecutors to the point he ultimately told Sean to leave the country to avoid being unfairly prosecuted and sent to prison for a very long time. The State Attorney's Office knows this and has evidence Hirsch told my son to leave, but they are punishing my son for his attorney's mistakes and bad advice. Now prosecutors say Stallworth will get to play football after he does 30 days in jail. What a great contribution to society! Yet, they want to keep my son behind bars for another 10 years at an expense of over half a million dollars to taxpayers instead of letting him give back to society through public service. I seek equal justice for my son now. For more infomation please visit http://freeseancasey.org.