This guy drives a vehicle drunk. He hits and kills a man. He gets sentenced to 30 days in jail (of which he will only have to serve 24 days). 24 days!! W...t...f He killed a human and will spend less than 4 weeks in jail. That is absurd. Michael Vick kills dogs and gets what, 2 years in jail? 16 months? Driving drunk by itself is bad enough. Then add KILLING A MAN, and Stallworth will spend freaking 24 days in jail?! Immediately after I got pissed about Stallworth's sentence, I could not help but think about the amazing difference between his and Vick's. So many things are wrong with this. Forget the Vick thing altogether, how do you kill a man while driving drunk, and get 24 days in jail? The community service and suspended license and house arrest is BS. Just BS. That just means he has to clean some parks, sit at home and watch TV, and get a driver (he is a millionaire after all...).
What do you think the punishment should be? I know most people won't agree, but to me what Vick did, morally speaking, was worse. 30 days does seem too lenient though.
I was a little pissed when I read the headline but after reading the story I'm not so bothered. It sounds like Stallworth wasn't driving very recklessly, only 10 miles above the speed limit, wasn't very drunk, had no prior record, the person hit was jay walking, and fully cooperated with authorities. He also made a settlement with the victims family which I imagine is factoring in the sentence. This seems lenient but it seems to me the circumstances didn't demand a very harsh sentence. http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9688404/Stallworth-to-serve-30-days-for-DUI-manslaughter Stallworth to serve 30 days for DUI manslaughter Associated Press MIAMI (AP) - Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth began serving a 30-day jail sentence Tuesday for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida, a punishment made possible by his cooperation with investigators and the fervent wish by the victim's family to put the matter behind them. Stallworth, 28, also reached a confidential financial settlement with the family of 59-year-old Mario Reyes, a construction worker struck and killed early on March 14 by Stallworth, driving drunk in his black 2005 Bentley. Stallworth had faced 15 years in prison for his DUI manslaughter conviction. After his release from jail, he must serve two years of house arrest and spend eight years on probation. The house arrest provisions will allow him to resume his football career, his attorney said. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is reviewing the matter for possible disciplinary action. Stallworth could face suspension without pay for some games this year. Leonard Little of the Rams pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after he hit and killed a woman while driving drunk in 1998 and served an eight-game suspension, though the punishment was doled out when the league was a bit more lenient. Stallworth's attorney, Christopher Lyons, said the financial settlement was only one factor in the plea agreement. He noted that Stallworth stopped immediately after the accident, called 911 and submitted to roadside alcohol testing despite spending most of the night drinking at a swanky Miami Beach hotel. "He acted like a man," Lyons said. "He remained at the scene. He cooperated fully." Stallworth told Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy that he hopes to get involved in drunken driving education programs. "I accept full responsibility for this horrible tragedy," said Stallworth, who was accompanied at the hearing by his parents, siblings and other supporters. "I will bear this burden for the rest of my life." Stallworth also must undergo drug and alcohol testing, will have a lifetime driver's license suspension and must perform 1,000 hours of community service. Lyons said after five years, Stallworth could win approval for limited driving such as for employment. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle echoed Lyons in citing Stallworth's lack of previous criminal record, cooperation and willingness to accept responsibility as factors in the plea deal. Rundle also said the Reyes family — particularly the victim's 15-year-old daughter — wanted the case resolved to avoid any more pain. "For all of these reasons, a just resolution of this case has been reached," Rundle said. None of the Reyes family attended the hearing. Their attorney, Rodolfo Suarez, read a statement saying the family wants to "bring closure to this emotional and tragic event." Suarez did not respond to an email seeking comment. After a night drinking at a bar in Miami Beach's Fountainebleau hotel, police said 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. Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, well above Florida's .08 limit. 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. The California native and University of Tennessee college star has also played in the NFL for New England, Philadelphia and New Orleans. The night before the crash, Stallworth earned a $4.5 million roster bonus from the Browns.
The guy killed a man. Killed. A. Man. And he will spend 24 days in prison. TWENTY FOUR DAYS!! And yes, if that had been you or me, there is no way that would have happened. Do I think the sentence is a joke in itself? Yes. Now, to compare to Vick's sentence. 24 days vs. 24 months. Human vs. Dogs. Driving drunk and killing a person is worse. What Vick did is disgusting and terrible and in no way excusible. But did he put other human's lives at risk by driving a vehicle while drunk? No. Did he kill a man? No. And to the other poster...."wasn't driving very recklessly"..."wasn't very drunk"? Are you serious? Reckless: marked by lack of proper caution : careless of consequences I would say that driving drunk shows a lack of caution...
Devil's advocate her maybe, but Vick co-ordinating the illegal activity of dog fighting was highly premeditated....he knew he was doing something that was punishable by a long prison sentence, and he carried it out over a long period of time. In Stallworth's case, he drank a little bit too much and made a (very) poor - but momentary - decision to drive. A bit like the flagrant foul should be assessed based on intent, not the damage it causes.
If that is your definition of reckless then the pedestrian killed also behaved recklessly by jay walking. I don't want to defend Stallworth's sentence and I feel it is too light but from reading the story it sounds like he fully cooperated with the authorities and had no prior record under our legal system that usually calls for leniency.
Only in America can a person seriously defend and actually say killing a dog is worse than killing a human. Only in America can someone actually get more time for killing dogs than humans. What the hell happenned to our once great nation? Political correctness and liberalism has run amuck. I am not saying they should have thrown the book at Stallworth, don't know the facts, just saying I can't believe we locked a man up for 2 years for fighting dogs. I also can't believe some of the things said in this thread.
It's not simply Human vs Dogs. You could reduce it to that if we're talking about Vick driving drunk and running over a dog, instead of Stallworth driving drunk and killing a guy. Or if you want to compare what Vick actually did to some guy enslaving humans and forcing them to fight to the death.
Right. So, if someone accidentally mishandles a firearm and kills another person, that's worse than some psycho taking an axe and butchering a dog to death for fun. Because, obviously, killing a human is always worse than killing a dog. You see ... intent matters. That's not political correctness. It's simply having a functioning moral compass.
I doubt political correctness or liberalism had anything to do with this ruling. As a matter of principle a human's life is worth more than a dog but other than that both are NFL players there are a lot of differences between the cases. Another poster pointed out premeditation but also cooperation with authorities tends to factor into sentencing. If Vick had been found guilty of running over a dog while drunk driving he likely would've only gotten a fine and a temporary suspended license. It probably wouldn't have been much of a news story. If Stallworth had deliberately tortured and killed the man his sentence would've been much much worse.
Its not like Stallworth was doing 85 in a 40, swerving lanes while holding a bottle of Cris out the window. The guy who walked in front of a moving vehicle was stupid.
Let's not even use the Michael Vick comparison. Let's use people who have simply committed vehicular manslaughter (no DUI or DWI), in most cases that's automatically 5 months - 2 years in prison. The average man, anyway. Throw in DUI or DWI, it jumps up to 4 to 15 years, possibly (in my state). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_manslaughter#Vehicular_homicide_by_state I'm not really surprised MADD didn't get involved, didn't seem like it generated alot of heat to begin. I think if it were a child or a pretty young lady, it might've gotten more coverage. How could it he not get suspended (by the NFL) for killing someone...while being over the legal limit? You would figure that is at least eight game suspension for such a crime, especially when the pseudo Sheriff Goodell is suspending players on banned substances and drug convictions outside of the game. What kind of message is the NFL sending, doing or possessing drugs is bad, but it is ok to drive drunk and kill someone. Because, a similar incident happen with Leonard Little and he wasn't suspended at all.
Where do you get the idea the NFL won't have any sort of punishment? And Leonard Little was suspended 8 games, as was noted earlier in this thread.
He was driving drunk with an blood-alcohol level of 0.126. Everyone knows the consequences of DUI and the possibility of vehicular manslaughter. Even though the victim jaywalked, I understand it was near the beach at 7am in the morning. I'm assuming the beach isn't getting too heavy traffic at 7am. It's understandable that someone would cross a street like under those circumstances (low traffic). I think he got too jail time for his DUI. As compliant with the investigation as he was, 24 days for vehicular manslaughter while DUI is not a big enough punishment. It should be at least a year.
I'm not trying to excuse his actions. I'm just saying that it doesn't make sense to reduce the comparison to the Vick case to "human getting killed versus dogs getting killed."
My favorite part of this: "Stallworth told police he flashed his lights in an attempt to warn Reyes, who was not in a crosswalk when he was struck." His first reaction wasn't to break, but to flash the guy.
If you want to know why the Justice system is really going to ****, my good friend from my high school years is doing 3 years in prison for having sex with an underage girl who misrepresented her age. And he was lucky to get away with 3 years because of Georgia's ridiculously stupid laws on sex. His life is basically destroyed. He has to do 10 years probation when he is released and has to register as a sex offender for those 10 years. How the hell is he going to even get a ****ty job? Also, his wife is pregnant with another guy's kid, so legally he won't even be allowed to see his own son, because if he's around his wife's other kid its a violation of his probation. How ****ed up is that?
This is a stupid comment. Hitting and killing human = jail Hitting and killing dog = not a crime Intentionally & brutally killing dogs = 2 years in jail. Intentionally & brutally killing humans = life in prison/death Only in Ameirca
