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Post by raleighrebel on Jun 16, 2009 11:41:16 GMT -5
MIAMI -- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail after pleading guilty in Florida to a DUI manslaughter charge.
The plea deal announced Tuesday calls for the 28-year-old Stallworth to also serve 10 years' probation and perform 1,000 community service hours for hitting and killing 59-year-old construction worker Mario Reyes with his car. Stallworth had faced up to 15 years in prison.
Stallworth also reached a confidential financial settlement with the Reyes' family. A person close to the negotiations told The Association Press about the agreement on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the deal.
The person said the agreement will avoid a potential wrongful death lawsuit from Reyes' family.
Miami Beach police said Stallworth was drinking at the swank Fontainebleau hotel bar before the March 14 crash. He left to go to a nearby home -- he owns three properties in the Miami area -- in his black 2005 Bentley on MacArthur Causeway, which links the beach to downtown Miami.
Prosecutors say Stallworth hit Reyes, a construction crane operator who was rushing to catch a bus after finishing his shift around 7:15 a.m. Stallworth told police he flashed his lights in an attempt to warn Reyes, who was not in a crosswalk when he was struck.
A spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office said Reyes' family has been pushing hard to resolve the case.
"We have been in intense negotiations for the past couple of days," spokeswoman Terry Chavez said. "We always take the victim's wishes into account."
Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, well above Florida's .08 limit. Stallworth has also has cooperated with investigators and issued a statement shortly after the crash expressing sympathy for Reyes' family.
Stallworth stopped after the crash and immediately told officers he had hit Reyes. Police estimated Stallworth was driving about 50 mph in a 40 mph zone.
Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns before last season but was injured much of the year. He also has played for New England, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
The NFL has said it will review the matter for possible disciplinary action after the legal case is completed.
David Cornwell, a Stallworth attorney handling the NFL situation, said he has kept top league officials apprised of the case.
"Whenever it is appropriate to do so, we are prepared to discuss the circumstances under which Donte' will resume his career," Cornwell said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Post by bcsbbad on Jun 16, 2009 11:42:49 GMT -5
Famous and rich is color blind.
That is all.
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Post by athens on Jun 16, 2009 12:17:04 GMT -5
I don't even know what to say...
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Post by dpb13 on Jun 16, 2009 12:24:26 GMT -5
I don't even know what to say... I do. What a fucking joke. The DUI laws in this country are pathetic. I hope that the financial settlement is enough to really hurt. 7 years and 35 million sounds about right.
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husky
Magistrate
Posts: 2,188
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Post by husky on Jun 16, 2009 12:29:06 GMT -5
That is sad. I know he at least didn't flee the scene, unlike that punk that killed the Angel's pitcher, but it's still the same basic crime. He should be doing a lot more time.
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Post by athens on Jun 16, 2009 12:29:50 GMT -5
I don't even know what to say... I do. What a fucking joke. The DUI laws in this country are pathetic. I hope that the financial settlement is enough to really hurt. 7 years and 35 million sounds about right. That's about right, but no amount of millions is going to bring Mr. Reyes back. If I were his family, I would be highly pissed...
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Post by Geaux Tigers on Jun 16, 2009 12:30:45 GMT -5
This is ridiculous.
For Crisesakes, a 1st time offender who just gets pulled over and sighted with DUI has to serve min. 48 hrs in 'jail'.
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Post by RHVGator on Jun 16, 2009 12:39:17 GMT -5
I know that I am probably going to get jumped all on for this, but what the hey:
I don't know Stallworth from the next guy. He may be a jerk, or he may be a descent guy. I don't know.
He was drunk, and shame on him for getting behind the wheel.
But I guess my observation is this, had he not been drunk, would it have been OK then?
He was going 10 miles over the speed limit. Who doesn't do this?
The guy was not using the cross walk, and I assume he was crossing a busy street, running to catch a bus.
Flashing his lights may have been useless, but who's to say honking the horn would have done anything. What would the guy have done, run faster or worse just stop.
Sure, if he wasn't drinking, maybe he could have maneuvered around the guy, or slammed on breaks. I don't know all the details.
I was at a busy intersection once, it was an intersection with about 5 lanes. The traffic was congested. There were trucks and busses all around me.
A lady was running through the traffic to catch a bus. The light turned green, and everybody started to roll. The lady ran in front of one truck (which was behind a bus) and ran right into the side of my car. Luckily, she was fine, but had she run out in front of me instead of into the side of my car, who knows what would have happened.
I am not defending Stallworth for his drunk driving. It is indefensible.
I guess I am saying that the poor guy who is no longer with us probably should have been more observant. Not saying that he (the guy that got hit) deserved it.
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Post by gatordynasty on Jun 16, 2009 12:43:50 GMT -5
I do. What a fucking joke. The DUI laws in this country are pathetic. I hope that the financial settlement is enough to really hurt. 7 years and 35 million sounds about right. That's about right, but no amount of millions is going to bring Mr. Reyes back. If I were his family, I would be highly pissed... Why would they be pissed? They're the ones who agreed to the financial settlement. No millions of dollars is going to bring him back, but no years in jail will either. No one is going to like this, but I agree with the family. It pisses me off in the sense that he got away with it because he's rich, but if you were the family what would you prefer? Years in jail or millions of dollars? I'm not trying to be callous, but those millions of dollars will do them a lot more good imo than will seeing him in jail. The only issue here with me is if he learned his lesson and won't drive drunk anymore. I doubt it, but if he's not a threat to society then I have no problem with the family's decision. If he's going to do it again then this is a miscarriage of justice. We'll see, hopefully no one has to die though.
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Post by athens on Jun 16, 2009 12:57:54 GMT -5
That's about right, but no amount of millions is going to bring Mr. Reyes back. If I were his family, I would be highly pissed... Why would they be pissed? They're the ones who agreed to the financial settlement. No millions of dollars is going to bring him back, but no years in jail will either. No one is going to like this, but I agree with the family. It pisses me off in the sense that he got away with it because he's rich, but if you were the family what would you prefer? Years in jail or millions of dollars? I'm not trying to be callous, but those millions of dollars will do him a lot more good imo than will seeing him in jail. The only issue here with me is if he learned his lesson and won't drive drunk anymore. I doubt it, but if he's not a threat to society then I have no problem with the family's decision. If he's going to do it again then this is a miscarriage of justice. We'll see, hopefully no one has to die though. I would rather see him in jail...weren't you the one just telling me how a DUI was as bad as beating the crap out of your girlfriend or firing a gun in a crowd? But vehicular manslaughter deserves nothing more than 30 days in jail. BTW, the family didn't settle anything as far as criminal liability or penalty. That's not how it works. The state handles that and input from the family usually doesn't mean a hill of beans. If the family that lost their relative is satisfied that Stallworth will be out roaming the streets in a month while their relative is DEAD, in the ground, not coming back just because they got some money, then they have some screwed up morals and priorities, IMHO.
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Post by Wolferuns on Jun 16, 2009 13:33:50 GMT -5
Luckily for Stallworth the laws recently changed in Florida. Used to if you were involved in a DUI that caused a death you were going to do at least 2 years in jail, whether the accident was your fault or not. Now they have it where if the other person was at fault, or partly at fault you can get a break. After reading the story where Stallworth said that he flashed his lights and hit his horn, I think he should have had to do more time. Sober he might have thought to hit the breaks first then do the other things.
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Post by whamil77 on Jun 16, 2009 14:30:35 GMT -5
Why would they be pissed? They're the ones who agreed to the financial settlement. No millions of dollars is going to bring him back, but no years in jail will either. No one is going to like this, but I agree with the family. It pisses me off in the sense that he got away with it because he's rich, but if you were the family what would you prefer? Years in jail or millions of dollars? I'm not trying to be callous, but those millions of dollars will do him a lot more good imo than will seeing him in jail. The only issue here with me is if he learned his lesson and won't drive drunk anymore. I doubt it, but if he's not a threat to society then I have no problem with the family's decision. If he's going to do it again then this is a miscarriage of justice. We'll see, hopefully no one has to die though. I would rather see him in jail...weren't you the one just telling me how a DUI was as bad as beating the crap out of your girlfriend or firing a gun in a crowd? But vehicular manslaughter deserves nothing more than 30 days in jail. BTW, the family didn't settle anything as far as criminal liability or penalty. That's not how it works. The state handles that and input from the family usually doesn't mean a hill of beans. If the family that lost their relative is satisfied that Stallworth will be out roaming the streets in a month while their relative is DEAD, in the ground, not coming back just because they got some money, then they have some screwed up morals and priorities, IMHO. I agree. The criminal charge is the State of Florida vs. Stallworth. The family doesn't have a dog in that fight, at least it is not supposed to. This, however, is what I think happened. If he goes to jail for a long period of time, there is essentially no NFL contract and no money. Therefore, there is no money for a financial settlement with the family. Remember the reference to "intense negotiations?". The were probably intense because they had to be culminated prior to criminal sentencing. I'm sure the Judge, Prosecutor, and Defense Counsel were in on it and the family probably agreed with the plan, which was to come to a financial agreement that compensated the family and alleviated the need for a civil suit and in return the State would limit the actual time server such that Stallworth could continue to make money with which he could pay the compensation to the family. If he goes to jail for a long time, the family essentially gets nothing. If he continues to play ball, the family gets compensated for the loss of the "bread winner." It was probably the lawyer's idea. It would be a tough decision for a family and we don't know what their situation was, but we've all got to eat.
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Post by gatordynasty on Jun 16, 2009 14:41:05 GMT -5
I would rather see him in jail...weren't you the one just telling me how a DUI was as bad as beating the crap out of your girlfriend or firing a gun in a crowd? But vehicular manslaughter deserves nothing more than 30 days in jail. BTW, the family didn't settle anything as far as criminal liability or penalty. That's not how it works. The state handles that and input from the family usually doesn't mean a hill of beans. If the family that lost their relative is satisfied that Stallworth will be out roaming the streets in a month while their relative is DEAD, in the ground, not coming back just because they got some money, then they have some screwed up morals and priorities, IMHO. I agree. The criminal charge is the State of Florida vs. Stallworth. The family doesn't have a dog in that fight, at least it is not supposed to. This, however, is what I think happened. If he goes to jail for a long period of time, there is essentially no NFL contract and no money. Therefore, there is no money for a financial settlement with the family. Remember the reference to "intense negotiations?". The were probably intense because they had to be culminated prior to criminal sentencing. I'm sure the Judge, Prosecutor, and Defense Counsel were in on it and the family probably agreed with the plan, which was to come to a financial agreement that compensated the family and alleviated the need for a civil suit and in return the State would limit the actual time server such that Stallworth could continue to make money with which he could pay the compensation to the family. If he goes to jail for a long time, the family essentially gets nothing. If he continues to play ball, the family gets compensated for the loss of the "bread winner." It was probably the lawyer's idea. It would be a tough decision for a family and we don't know what their situation was, but we've all got to eat. That's what I was getting at Whamil, thanks for explaining it so well. I also don't blame the family. What is better for the family. Not getting him back and watching another man rot in prison, or getting millions of dollars and at least living more comfortable in their grief? I'm not answering the question, I just think it's a legitimate reason. Now if Stallworth had intentionally murdered someway, I don't give a shit if I'm the family, your ass is going away to jail for a long time, but this was just a completely sad, and selfish accident, but it's still an accident. I'd be heartbroken either way, but I'd rather be heartbroken with millions of dollars.
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Post by scuzz on Jun 16, 2009 16:21:28 GMT -5
If you have the time to flash your headlights don't you have the time to hit the brakes......just askin.
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Post by bigdawgs on Jun 16, 2009 16:26:28 GMT -5
Pretty pathetic. Experienced a similar thing here in Atlanta when Thrasher and eventually Ottawa Senator star Danny Heatly killed his roommate in a drunken, speeding crash. He essentially got off free, other than the fact he has to live with what he did for life.
It almost lends credence to Mike Vick apologists who must be wondering why he spent 23 months behind bars vice Stallworth and Heatly.
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Post by NCBulldawg on Jun 16, 2009 16:42:48 GMT -5
A newscaster in Winston-Salem had a similar incident, his sentence.... 10 years in jail. So.... don't even dare tell me sports folks don't get courtesies in this country. So many in the pros get these courtesies and it makes me sick. WTF? I have been there and done that and my bottom-line opinion on this matter is this, you drink at all and get behind the wheel and get caught doing anything wrong, you have no excuses, period. I don't care if you get popped for a broken taillight or did not come to a complete stop, if you get caught, shut the fuck up and take your sentence, especially if you kill someone. It really sickens me to see the double standard in these kind of cases. Hey, I understand class differences, but what I don't understand is the various values placed on human lives depending on the fame of the fuck up.
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Post by RHVGator on Jun 16, 2009 16:52:21 GMT -5
Pretty pathetic. Experienced a similar thing here in Atlanta when Thrasher and eventually Ottawa Senator star Danny Heatly killed his roommate in a drunken, speeding crash. He essentially got off free, other than the fact he has to live with what he did for life. It almost lends credence to Mike Vick apologists who must be wondering why he spent 23 months behind bars vice Stallworth and Heatly. I am not a Vick apologist, but I do think that there seems to be no outrage (or at least not as much) when it comes to human life with athletes as opposed to animal life. Leonard Little comes to mind. I love dogs, but I just don't get the outrage over Vick and people not wanting him to ever be able to play football again, but don't seem to care that much when an athlete kills someone while drunk driving, or beats the hell out of his wife or girlfriend.
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Post by whamil77 on Jun 16, 2009 19:47:00 GMT -5
Pretty pathetic. Experienced a similar thing here in Atlanta when Thrasher and eventually Ottawa Senator star Danny Heatly killed his roommate in a drunken, speeding crash. He essentially got off free, other than the fact he has to live with what he did for life. It almost lends credence to Mike Vick apologists who must be wondering why he spent 23 months behind bars vice Stallworth and Heatly. I am not a Vick apologist, but I do think that there seems to be no outrage (or at least not as much) when it comes to human life with athletes as opposed to animal life. Leonard Little comes to mind. I love dogs, but I just don't get the outrage over Vick and people not wanting him to ever be able to play football again, but don't seem to care that much when an athlete kills someone while drunk driving, or beats the hell out of his wife or girlfriend. I think the difference is that there was no money to be had in the Vick case. No real potential for a civil suit and no restitution to trade for jail time. Not saying I agree with that line of thinking, just saying that's probably the way it played out.
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Post by bigdawgs on Jun 16, 2009 19:52:47 GMT -5
I think what Vick got was about right. What I don't think right is what Heatly and now Stallworth got.
Having said that, Mike Vick tried to conspire against the Feds and was in no way cooperative. Stallworth apparently was the complete opposite. Still, this seems ridiculously light in view of the results of his bad decision making.
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Post by Life's too short. on Jun 16, 2009 20:31:13 GMT -5
But I guess my observation is this, had he not been drunk, would it have been OK then? I don't know enough of the details, but I've got to err on the side of "if he wasn't drunk, there might not have been a death to judge OK or not".
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Post by NCBulldawg on Jun 16, 2009 21:49:57 GMT -5
I hate to say this, but the family did accept the tab Donte' was willing to pay in lieu of asking for a pound of flesh, so to speak. It is awful that a life has a price tag, and that if paid, allows for the result we see today. Believe me, I am not absolving Donte' for what he did, far from it, but the family could have not accepted such and taken a chance in the courts to get him in jail for a more "appropriate" sentence, yet risk the fact that the pedestrian was out of the cross walk, which would come into play in the state of Florida under DUI vehicular manslaughter.
Anyway...
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Post by bigdawgs on Jun 16, 2009 21:56:43 GMT -5
Well, I only hope that someone else doesn't lose a family member to the same guy again. How much money will he be worth then.
Reminds me of the issue with a Georgia State Trooper about 15 years ago. He got a call one night that his parents had been killed in a car wreck in South Georgia. He got down there and found out that they had been hit with a drunk driver. He found out shortly that he had arrested that same individual for DUI three weeks earlier. He was out on bail. He had been picked up multiple times for the same offense.
Something inside of me would have wanted me to find the judge who approved the bail for the guy and play a little Russian roulette.
Not saying that this will happen, but I still don't like it regardless of the excuses and the pay off.
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Post by gatordynasty on Jun 16, 2009 22:19:19 GMT -5
Maybe people should look at it if they were the dead guy.
If you had to choose for the person who hit to be in prison for the rest of his life but that your family would have to suffer financially for a while, or you could choose to let him go but he had to make your family millionaires so they wouldn't suffer financially without you there, what would you choose?
I'm sorry, but if those are the choices then I'm going with option B. I'd rather see my family taken care of than someone be locked up, because what the hell good is that going to do me or my family?
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KU62
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Ye Olde Phogey
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Post by KU62 on Jun 16, 2009 23:12:49 GMT -5
Maybe people should look at it if they were the dead guy. If you had to choose for the person who hit to be in prison for the rest of his life but that your family would have to suffer financially for a while, or you could choose to let him go but he had to make your family millionaires so they wouldn't suffer financially without you there, what would you choose? I'm sorry, but if those are the choices then I'm going with option B. I'd rather see my family taken care of than someone be locked up, because what the hell good is that going to do me or my family? Maybe because it's the last one (so far), this reply makes more sense, with less blind jealousy toward people with money, than all the others put together. It skirts the issue of criminal/civil decisions and focuses on the family from the viewpoint of the victim. Nice job, GD.
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Post by bigdawgs on Jun 16, 2009 23:16:52 GMT -5
Whats to keep the family from filing a civil suit? It is a nice payoff and I understand that point very much. But the potential for this guy to do it again is out there. I certainly hope that this is the end of it.
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Post by dpb13 on Jun 16, 2009 23:30:48 GMT -5
Maybe people should look at it if they were the dead guy. If you had to choose for the person who hit to be in prison for the rest of his life but that your family would have to suffer financially for a while, or you could choose to let him go but he had to make your family millionaires so they wouldn't suffer financially without you there, what would you choose? I'm sorry, but if those are the choices then I'm going with option B. I'd rather see my family taken care of than someone be locked up, because what the hell good is that going to do me or my family? Maybe because it's the last one (so far), this reply makes more sense, with less blind jealousy toward people with money, than all the others put together. It skirts the issue of criminal/civil decisions and focuses on the family from the viewpoint of the victim. Nice job, GD. I can only speak for myself, but my post had nothing to do with "blind jealousy toward people with money." It had to do with the fact that IMHO DUI is the most dispicable "non-violent" (for lack of a better term) crime that one can commit, and the lack of will on the part of our justice system to do something about it disgusts me.
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Post by bigdawgs on Jun 17, 2009 6:11:26 GMT -5
I agree.
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Post by athens on Jun 17, 2009 6:52:40 GMT -5
I hate to say this, but the family did accept the tab Donte' was willing to pay in lieu of asking for a pound of flesh, so to speak. It is awful that a life has a price tag, and that if paid, allows for the result we see today. Believe me, I am not absolving Donte' for what he did, far from it, but the family could have not accepted such and taken a chance in the courts to get him in jail for a more "appropriate" sentence, yet risk the fact that the pedestrian was out of the cross walk, which would come into play in the state of Florida under DUI vehicular manslaughter. Anyway... This is a criminal matter. The whole money deal was a civil matter. In the end, the family did not have a say in whether Stallworth got prison time or not, regardless of whatever financial deal they worked out. The two are mutually exclusive and just happened to be handled at the same time. Stallworth could have gotten 10 years in jail and the family still could have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court. Just like even if OJ had been convicted of murder, the Goldman's still could have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his estate. Criminal and civil cases are not the same thing. The Reyes' could have filed a suit (or settled out of court as they did) no matter the outcome of the criminal proceedings. It may have affected the amount they could get in a civil suit based upon his reduced earning potential if he was in jail, but that's about it. Either way, the arrangements for their financial deal with Stallworth do not affect the criminal case proceedings.
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Post by Wolferuns on Jun 17, 2009 8:17:14 GMT -5
There was a Sailor here in Jacksonville that got into a wreck in the 80's. He had been fishing all day at the jetties, and had a few beers like ost fishermen do. He stated home had driven from Mayport out to 301, for those not from this area that is about 30 miles. He was heading to a place called Maxville. Some lady in a jeep pulled out infront of him, and they collided. She was not wearing a seat belt and was ejectied from her jeep and was DOA. Her baby was in the car seat and was fine. THis lady ran a red light, faild to yield ROW, was not wearing a seat belt, and was speeding. THe sailor had a BAC of .11, just above the legal limmit at the time. He got 5 years jail time. He had the time to retire frome the Navy at 25 years. His retirement went 100% to the baby girl in the jeep. He had to pay into a fund for her college. He also had to take out a $10 million life insurance policy on himself incase he died so the girl would be taken care of. He lost his license for life and was divorced by his wife. This was a first time offender.
Now, do you think what Stallworth got was fair?
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