DieHardFromMO
Hall of Famer
Leonard Little is acquitted of DUI
B Y WILLIAM C. LHOTKA
Of the Post-Dispatch
04/01/2005
A jury in St. Louis County Circuit Court acquitted Rams defensive end Leonard Little on Friday of drunk driving Highway 40 last year in Ladue.
Little cried as the verdict was read in St. Louis County Circuit Court. He hugged his attorney, Scott Rosenblum, before collapsing to the floor.
Rosenblum helped him up joking, "You're too big to pick up," as Little got back to his feet.
Little was convicted on the lesser charge of speeding. Had he been convicted of the felony charge of driving while intoxicated, he would have faced up to four years in prison.
Little's 2003 Mercedes was stopped at 3:44 a.m. on April 24 on Highway 40 near Lindbergh Boulevard. Officer Gregory Stork said he clocked Little at 78 mph. Little flunked three field sobriety tests, Stork claimed.
Stork was the main prosecution witness against Little - and Rosenblum put the officer on trial during three hours of cross-examination on Thursday and in closing arguments on Friday.
Prosecutor Mark Bishop told the jury of 11 women and one man that Little put on "the two beers defense. He drank so many beers that night, he doesn't remember how many."
Whenever a police officer stops someone who is drunk and asks that person how much they had been drinking, they usually get the answer: "two beers," Bishop said.
In an audiotape, Little first tells Stork he had two beers, and later he says he doesn't remember. Little refused a breathalyzer test at the Ladue Police Station that would have shown his blood alcohol content.
In alleging Little was drunk and noting that a refusal to take the test means an automatic revocation, Bishop said: "He would rather give up his drivers license for a full calendar year than take the test."
Rosenblum portrayed Stork as a "sheep in wolf's clothing," who appeared to be a nice guy but had an agenda of making as many DWI arrests as he could.
In his testimony Thursday, Stork admitted that the sobriety tests he administered to Little varied from established police procedures. Using Stork's testimony in a license revocation hearing 19 days before Little's arrest, Rosenblum impeached Stork's trial testimony at least four times.
On Friday, the only defense witness that Rosenblum called was Ladue Officer Keneth Andreski who was Stork's backup when Little was arrested and was standing five feet from the defendant when Little was given the sobriety tests.
Stork had testified that Little was windmilling his arms and unable to stand on one foot. Andreski said he didn't recall seeing Little swinging his arms or holding them outward like airplane wings to keep his balance.
Andreski said he didn't recall seeing Little swaying or using the Mercedes for support, as Stork had told the jury.
Also testifying Friday was Sgt. Darin McClure. Under questioning by Bishop, McClure said he administered a breath test at the arrest scene on a portable machine and it showed Little had been drinking. McClure said also he smelled alcohol on Little's breath.
Under Rosenblum's questioning, McClure said Little wasn't stumbling, swaying, losing his balance or smelling of alcohol at the Ladue police station where he was taken 18 minutes after the traffic stop.
"The only crime you saw in this courtroom was what Greg Stork did out there that night," Rosenblum told the jury.
Referring to McClure's testimony, Rosenblum said Little must have "magically sobered up" between his arrest on Highway 40 and his arrival at the police station. "Nothing in this case is consistent with intoxication."
Bishop said Stork had no motive to pick on Little. The police officer has arrested between 300 and 350 people and all the defense could find was some unrelated Department of Revenue case, Bishop said. "Nitpicking little things is all they could find."
"What you have here is a kid in the cookie jar with a high-priced lawyer," said Bishop of Little. "Find him guilty, because he is guilty."
The trial lasted less than two days. Jury selection - to get a jury of 12 and two alternates from an original panel of 80 - took three days because of prior publicity.
Not only is Little a Pro Bowl lineman but he was also the defendant in a manslaughter case in 1999 in which he admitted he was drunk. In his Lincoln Navigator, he ran a red light downtown and collided with a car driven by Susan Gutweiler, 47, of Oakville, who was killed.
B Y WILLIAM C. LHOTKA
Of the Post-Dispatch
04/01/2005
A jury in St. Louis County Circuit Court acquitted Rams defensive end Leonard Little on Friday of drunk driving Highway 40 last year in Ladue.
Little cried as the verdict was read in St. Louis County Circuit Court. He hugged his attorney, Scott Rosenblum, before collapsing to the floor.
Rosenblum helped him up joking, "You're too big to pick up," as Little got back to his feet.
Little was convicted on the lesser charge of speeding. Had he been convicted of the felony charge of driving while intoxicated, he would have faced up to four years in prison.
Little's 2003 Mercedes was stopped at 3:44 a.m. on April 24 on Highway 40 near Lindbergh Boulevard. Officer Gregory Stork said he clocked Little at 78 mph. Little flunked three field sobriety tests, Stork claimed.
Stork was the main prosecution witness against Little - and Rosenblum put the officer on trial during three hours of cross-examination on Thursday and in closing arguments on Friday.
Prosecutor Mark Bishop told the jury of 11 women and one man that Little put on "the two beers defense. He drank so many beers that night, he doesn't remember how many."
Whenever a police officer stops someone who is drunk and asks that person how much they had been drinking, they usually get the answer: "two beers," Bishop said.
In an audiotape, Little first tells Stork he had two beers, and later he says he doesn't remember. Little refused a breathalyzer test at the Ladue Police Station that would have shown his blood alcohol content.
In alleging Little was drunk and noting that a refusal to take the test means an automatic revocation, Bishop said: "He would rather give up his drivers license for a full calendar year than take the test."
Rosenblum portrayed Stork as a "sheep in wolf's clothing," who appeared to be a nice guy but had an agenda of making as many DWI arrests as he could.
In his testimony Thursday, Stork admitted that the sobriety tests he administered to Little varied from established police procedures. Using Stork's testimony in a license revocation hearing 19 days before Little's arrest, Rosenblum impeached Stork's trial testimony at least four times.
On Friday, the only defense witness that Rosenblum called was Ladue Officer Keneth Andreski who was Stork's backup when Little was arrested and was standing five feet from the defendant when Little was given the sobriety tests.
Stork had testified that Little was windmilling his arms and unable to stand on one foot. Andreski said he didn't recall seeing Little swinging his arms or holding them outward like airplane wings to keep his balance.
Andreski said he didn't recall seeing Little swaying or using the Mercedes for support, as Stork had told the jury.
Also testifying Friday was Sgt. Darin McClure. Under questioning by Bishop, McClure said he administered a breath test at the arrest scene on a portable machine and it showed Little had been drinking. McClure said also he smelled alcohol on Little's breath.
Under Rosenblum's questioning, McClure said Little wasn't stumbling, swaying, losing his balance or smelling of alcohol at the Ladue police station where he was taken 18 minutes after the traffic stop.
"The only crime you saw in this courtroom was what Greg Stork did out there that night," Rosenblum told the jury.
Referring to McClure's testimony, Rosenblum said Little must have "magically sobered up" between his arrest on Highway 40 and his arrival at the police station. "Nothing in this case is consistent with intoxication."
Bishop said Stork had no motive to pick on Little. The police officer has arrested between 300 and 350 people and all the defense could find was some unrelated Department of Revenue case, Bishop said. "Nitpicking little things is all they could find."
"What you have here is a kid in the cookie jar with a high-priced lawyer," said Bishop of Little. "Find him guilty, because he is guilty."
The trial lasted less than two days. Jury selection - to get a jury of 12 and two alternates from an original panel of 80 - took three days because of prior publicity.
Not only is Little a Pro Bowl lineman but he was also the defendant in a manslaughter case in 1999 in which he admitted he was drunk. In his Lincoln Navigator, he ran a red light downtown and collided with a car driven by Susan Gutweiler, 47, of Oakville, who was killed.
