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I want their behind in prison for as long as possible.
Why...to be vengeful??
To be honest...I would rather have their money or have them paying my family the money if I was the one plowed down..especially in a case like this where there wasn't any intent to harm anybody....accidents happen....and what I gather, the biggest factor in the accident was this guy darting out across a busy 4 lane highway.
If you have kids to say, I don't know if you do or not, but if Stallworth ran one of them down while drunk, you would be happy with taking his money and him only doing 30 days in prison or jail? Yes, your kid could have been crossing illegaly, but a drunk driver is a whole 'nother story.
This is so confusing, they both broke the law, well at least they found Stallworth to be breaking the law, never was proved that Mr. Reyes was crossing illegally. Just speculation.
But I bet if Stallworth wasn't drunk, he would have avoided this altogether. His judgement would have been better. It's not like Reyes just all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere. Stallworth saw him in advance but still somehow ran him down.
I wasn't there so I can't say what exactly happened. I guess what I am angry about is if it was me who mowed Reyes down I am in prison for years because I don't have the cash to buy somebody off. And to have a loved one killed by a drunk driver and just take the cash instead of having the DRUNK person spend what time in prison they deserve is beyond me.
It's confusing as hell, but the bottom line is any one of us kills somebody while drunk, we go away for awhile. Bottom line. It's that simple. There is no argument against this. Any average joe does this, goodbye for a few years at least.
To me there is no money to make up for the loss of a loved one. This family seems to care more about the money. Of course like you said, I would want my family to get some money and live happily the rest of their lives if I got mowed down by a drunk driver but my wife wouldn't do that, the money is not the issue here. The issue here is that a husband and a father and brother is not around anymore and no amount of money can change that.
I'm not saying that your family wouldn't feel the same way, I'm just trying to get my point across.
How in the world can you fix something...
If you don't know how it's supposed to work?
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This will be my last reply on this subject.
I am sick and tired of the rich and famous getting special treatment that us average joes would get severely punished for.
Our justice system sucks.
How in the world can you fix something...
If you don't know how it's supposed to work?
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Stallworth is definitely putting up more than 30 days jail...
2 years house arrest.
8 years probation
seriously jeopardized his career
ruined his reputation
has to live with it
financial settlement with family
LIFETIME driving suspension. can't even get privileges to drive for 5 years.
yes, he took a life. he made a bad choice. but he isnt getting off totally free and i think he is doing the right thing by settling and not taking this any further and putting the family through a criminal and/or civil trial
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It's been quite apparent to me for a long time that there are two different justice systems operating in this country.
1. Haves
2. Have nots
I see it all the time......there are those who struggle on appeals or filing motions for judicial release with public defenders and then there are those who have family on the street talking to/paying a real attorney and the success rate is probably about an 80/20 split percentage-wise, just guesstimating....the legal system works, but it works better and quicker for those who can buy the better chess pieces.
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Legend
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but it works better and quicker for those who can buy the better chess pieces.
No doubt.
Works that way with just about anything....medicine, car repair,air conditioners, football teams.
This is something new??
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn. GM Strong ![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/small-gator-chomp.gif)
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I will note that had it been me and my 5 figure salary that hit this Reyes guy, I'd be in jail for 20 years.
No you wouldn't. Judges can't exceed sentencing guidelines based on whether or not you have a 5 figure salary or a 7 figure salary. The Ohio Revised Code spells out what sentence can be assessed based on the crime.......
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Didn't say it was new, just agreeing with the point. 
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Quote:
Stallworth is definitely putting up more than 30 days jail...
2 years house arrest.
8 years probation
seriously jeopardized his career
ruined his reputation
has to live with it
financial settlement with family
LIFETIME driving suspension. can't even get privileges to drive for 5 years.
Just want to comment on the 8 years probation......whoopty-do.....that is an order for him to stay out of trouble, something I (and millions of others) have successfully done for 40+ years.......that isn't really a sanction in the grand scheme of things.
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I will note that had it been me and my 5 figure salary that hit this Reyes guy, I'd be in jail for 20 years.
No you wouldn't. Judges can't exceed sentencing guidelines based on whether or not you have a 5 figure salary or a 7 figure salary. The Ohio Revised Code spells out what sentence can be assessed based on the crime.......
Sure I would. My point is that I would receive the maximum allowed as I don't have the resources and high powered lawyers that Stallworth and other high income people do. I would get the maximum whether it be 20 or 17 or 11. (20 was used to make a point) The prosecutors would use me to burnish their conviction rate for election year use.
SaintDawg™
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Mike Vick got a lot more jail time for killing some dogs. ::shrug::
Makes you say hmmm....
Theres no saying hmmmm. It's the simple fact that Michael Vick is a moron and Micheal Vick lied and was un-cooperative with authorities and the charges piled up. Stallworth killed a guy while he was legally drunk. The guy was not in the cross walk so would Stallworth have killed him if he was sober? We will never know. All we know is Stallworth was drunk and hit a pedestrian who was in a place he legally wasn't suppoosed to be. Stallworth called 911, was standup with the authorities, apologetic, and subjected him self to bac test knowing he was probably over the legal limit. He knew what he did, held him self accountable immediately. Now initially I would be disgusted with this sentence if Stallworth wasn't remorseful and the Reyes family didn't support it....But thats not how it is. But for some reason... everyone tends to ignore that and they tend to be looking at the days in jail and thinking thats his only punishment and getting ticked because he's rich and famous.
Stallworth lost alot from this, way more than the 30 days in jail everyone is bitching about..... I applaud him, the Reyes family, and the Dade County DA's office for their handling of a tragic situation.
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I would get the maximum whether it be 20 or 17 or 11. (20 was used to make a point)
20 was pulled out of your ass. That was my point.....they can't exceed sentencing guidelines, regardless of how much money you make. You're saying that he got a light sentence because of his stature.
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Thanks Focker.
There's more to this story than the fact that Stallworth was able to buy his way out of jail. Those who compare Vick's situation to Stallworth's are just being ignorant. Vick lied to the commissioner's face and wholeheartedly lied about his involvement. With Stallworth there was no cover up and he's trying to move forward as quickly as possible.
And for those of you who are claiming the Reyes family would rather have the money than their Father/spouse/uncle/friend you need to take a better look at your own lives. The fact that someone with money caused the problem simply brought a quicker resolution to this case. It's unfortunate that any of this happened. But sometimes accidents happen.
And the next head coach is ......
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I agree with you and Focker on the situation.
It's tragic all the way around and poor choices were made by both men.
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Stallworth is definitely putting up more than 30 days jail...
2 years house arrest.
8 years probation
seriously jeopardized his career
ruined his reputation
has to live with it
financial settlement with family
LIFETIME driving suspension. can't even get privileges to drive for 5 years.
Just want to comment on the 8 years probation......whoopty-do.....that is an order for him to stay out of trouble, something I (and millions of others) have successfully done for 40+ years.......that isn't really a sanction in the grand scheme of things.
Probation can consist of needing to receive permission to leave the state, it often means you cannot consume alcohol or drugs and will be tested regularly, regular meetings with an officer, and more. It will be a big inconvenience for him, just like the lifetime drivers license suspension.
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I will note that had it been me and my 5 figure salary that hit this Reyes guy, I'd be in jail for 20 years.
No you wouldn't. Judges can't exceed sentencing guidelines based on whether or not you have a 5 figure salary or a 7 figure salary. The Ohio Revised Code spells out what sentence can be assessed based on the crime.......
Sure I would. My point is that I would receive the maximum allowed as I don't have the resources and high powered lawyers that Stallworth and other high income people do. I would get the maximum whether it be 20 or 17 or 11. (20 was used to make a point) The prosecutors would use me to burnish their conviction rate for election year use.
Probation is a lot more than that. Probably you, and I, and millions of others would fail our probation and go to prison. Probation completely and totally sucks. They can come into your house at anytime and search. You can't drink any alcohol. test positive, go to prison. Can't leave the state. Can't get in a fight. Can't get arrested, even if you're innocent. it's awful.
But the truth is, nothing stallworth can get as punishment is worse than the punishment he already has. He has to live with the fact that he killed someone. He'll never be the same. Any soldier will tell you it's harder to kill someone than to see someone you love killed.
If you gave Donte the choice between thirty days, or 20 years in prison but the guy is still alive, I'll bet you he'd take the 20 years.
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Quote:
Stallworth is definitely putting up more than 30 days jail...
2 years house arrest.
8 years probation
seriously jeopardized his career
ruined his reputation
has to live with it
financial settlement with family
LIFETIME driving suspension. can't even get privileges to drive for 5 years.
yes, he took a life. he made a bad choice. but he isnt getting off totally free and i think he is doing the right thing by settling and not taking this any further and putting the family through a criminal and/or civil trial
What he said ^.
Stallworth is hardly getting off light IMO.
Don't point a gun at someone unless your ready to pull the trigger.
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I agree....from what I have seen of Donte, the guy definitely looks remorseful.
he looks like a complete wreck and that as coming out of the courthouse knowing he doesn't have much jail to do. i definitely think this will tear at him forever.
i was never a big fan of him as a football player, and he definitely made a gigantic error in judgement, but from far away at least, he truly looks like he will come out better from it on the other side (and I wouldn't say that about many athletes that go through legal issues).
#gmstrong
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This is nothing more then social stratification at it's best. Not sure why people are shocked about the sentence, it's how America has been since the nations inception.
The outcome of the sentencing is what it is, both sides agreed to the decision.
The family of the victim was satisfied with the decision, so I can be as well and let people move on with their lives.
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To me there is no money to make up for the loss of a loved one. This family seems to care more about the money. Of course like you said, I would want my family to get some money and live happily the rest of their lives if I got mowed down by a drunk driver but my wife wouldn't do that, the money is not the issue here. The issue here is that a husband and a father and brother is not around anymore and no amount of money can change that.
I don't know what their intentions are, or what the family really cares about. But, I do know that no amount of long, drawn out trials, long prison sentences, and civil suits will bring back Mr. Reyes. To me, it just seems that the family is being pragmatic. Their breadwinner is gone, and their daily needs and well-being of the family probably trumps any desires for vengeance.
This is an awful situation, but this resolution, in my opinion, is probably in the family's best interest. They would probably give up all the money they are getting from Donte to have their father back. Unfortunately, no amount of money is going to raise him from the dead. If the family has no choice but to move on without a father, they are probably better off doing it with a boatload of money and a "free" Donte Stallworth than with a locked up Donte Stallworth and only the hope of winning a civil suit many years down the road.
Much respect to ya, even if you wish me the opposite...
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It's been quite apparent to me for a long time that there are two different justice systems operating in this country.
1. Haves
2. Have nots
I see it all the time......there are those who struggle on appeals or filing motions for judicial release with public defenders and then there are those who have family on the street talking to/paying a real attorney and the success rate is probably about an 80/20 split percentage-wise, just guesstimating....the legal system works, but it works better and quicker for those who can buy the better chess pieces.
I agree with you, but I also think that a lot of it falls on the client as well, and maybe you do too.
I was actually a certified intern with the Public Defender in Toledo. I was with the PD in Judge Franks' room in Common Pleas. He's actually mostly retired from a lot of his private practice, but the dude has over 40 years experience and is definitely among the top eschelon of criminal attorneys in Toledo. Tons of private attorneys came to him for advice and he had more nolles than just about anyone else. I think he was even involved in the decision to get electronic monitoring to count as incarceration for speedy trial purposes.
That being said, a lot of our clients got the book thown at them, but I think a lot just had to do with their background or characteristics. First of all, the fact that our clients had absolutely no money often reflected their intelligence, motivation, and common sense. I mean, we had one guy who had coke on him when he came into court!  We had another guy who got into a fight with a rival gang member when he was in court. And we had another guy who dropped positive for drugs EVERY DAY he went to check with probation for his SOR bond.
A lot of these guys left lasting impressions with the judge as well, so she remembered that when we filed our motions for Judicial Release.
On the other hand, a lot of the clients with better resources also seemed to have more common sense and intelligence. For instance, the officer who embezzled funds from the Sylvania Police Department who was somewhat recently convicted I'm sure is also out on Judicial Release.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
#gmstrong
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So we know what the legal system has handed Dante; but what can we expect from Goodell.
Considering Little got an 8 game suspension from a much more lenient tagliabue, what will Stallworth receive.
I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch......
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So we know what the legal system has handed Dante; but what can we expect from Goodell.
Considering Little got an 8 game suspension from a much more lenient tagliabue, what will Stallworth receive.
it's his first offense and he seems genuinely remorseful. i would expect the same 8 games (and only the full 8 because Goodell needs to set the precedent for his tenure).
#gmstrong
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I have been wondering if it could have been possible to make some kind of arrangement where his playing sooner would be more beneficial to the family whom he settled out of court with; and kind of forcing Goodell to honor a less-lengthy suspension.
Something to the effect of:
Donte is remorseful
Donte accepted responsibility--though wasn't completely in the wrong---at least with respect to the mans death---seeing as how he was outside the crosswalk.
Donte wants to atone for his mistakes, and compensate the family: and that compensation will be partly-based on salary and Dante needs to see the field and collect a pay check. The sooner the better off for everyone.
Or he could pledge portions of his pay this year to some charity and therefore, a quicker reinstatement would be most beneficial, and more probable from Goodell.
This is all speculation---but I think there are several ways Stallworths camp can really lessen the blow when it comes to league mandated suspensions.
I would think that that will all hinge on how remorseful Stallworth actually is.
If he comes across sincere, and presents Goodell with some plan that would provide immense benefits to a charitable cause---I could see him getting something less.
I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch......
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I think we're on the same page except as it pertains to one fact.
Instead of braking, Stallworth flashed his lights at Reyes to get out of his way. He hit him going 50 in a 40 without slamming his brakes.
To me that screams "get out of my way Slappy or I'm going to run you down in my Bentley."
It leaves a sour taste in my mouth and 30 days of time just doesn't feel right no matter what one says for killing a man.
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Quote:
I think we're on the same page except as it pertains to one fact.
Instead of braking, Stallworth flashed his lights at Reyes to get out of his way. He hit him going 50 in a 40 without slamming his brakes.
To me that screams "get out of my way Slappy or I'm going to run you down in my Bentley."
It leaves a sour taste in my mouth and 30 days of time just doesn't feel right no matter what one says for killing a man.
Would it be better for you if the car involved was a chevy corsica? And the driver was a guy that worked at McDonalds? If that were the case, and the dead person's family was fine with 30 days in jail, house arrest, probation....and the p.a. was fine with that - would you still be upset?
Or are you envious of stallworths supposed "riches".
If you want stallworth to "pay" with jail time simply because he has money, you're being unrealistic in my opinion.
Oh, and don't worry. I have a feeling that within about 3, maybe 4 years of retiring, stallworth will be broke.
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Maybe I am envious to a point, with the Bentley comment.
But does a sober guy flash his lights or does he put on the brakes.
A sober guy probably doesn't kill that man. Just my opinion.
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I don't know if you've ever been to Miami, but a guy running across the middle of the MacArthur Causeway isn't a regularity...if that happened to me, I'd like to think I'd hit the brakes...but I don't know how much reaction time I'd be allotted.
Stallworth driving while drunk is a horribly misguided idea...so is darting across that area at 7 a.m.
I really feel badly saying that...it's not like that lapse in judgment should've taken his life...but I can see where if I was driving - even sober - that might catch me off-guard. If he had enough time to flash lights, he probably had enough time to break, yes...but I don't know if the accident is necessarily avoided with sobriety, either.
No one knows but Donte, and I imagine he'll be thinking about it a lot for a good protion of his remaining life.
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Quote:
Maybe I am envious to a point, with the Bentley comment.
But does a sober guy flash his lights or does he put on the brakes.
A sober guy probably doesn't kill that man. Just my opinion.
You're on the right track - in MY opinion.
Here's the deal: a sober guy would've gotten off - bammo - a sober, regular old joe - driving like Stallworth was - no problem. (by driving like stallworth was I mean not running a red light - he wasn't charged with that - not speeding - although police "estimate" he was going 10 mph over the limit)
Fame and money has its perks and its downs.
The laws are the laws, and we all have to deal with them as such. Hence, stallworth was guilty as soon as his BAC came back over the limit.
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To me that screams "get out of my way Slappy or I'm going to run you down
and your point is? Hell I see people drive like that seven days a week.
I AM ALWAYS RIGHT... except when I am wrong.
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j/c,...I don't know why anyone should be either surprised or concerned. In addition, it ain't like this guy is the second coming of Gary Collins. I don't see the big deal,....we presupposed he would get off, and he did. So now do we think he's going to contribute when he hasn't ?
<holding breath>
I'm more worried about whether or not Mangini can actually coach.
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j/c In this morning's Miami Herald.....Donte' Stallworth settlement sets the value of victim's life By FRED GRIMM fgrimm@MiamiHerald.comDonte' Stallworth does 30 days. And walks. In a sentencing process that grants peculiar deference to the victim's families, it's good to be a rich professional football player. Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter, a crime known to ring up a decade or more in prison if a victim's family brings outrage and grief into the courtroom. Less than three months ago, a Broward judge sentenced David Whiting, 50, to 35 years for DUI manslaughter after relatives of his victims, a corporate CEO and his young daughter, testified about their devastation. The mother of the woman killed by Shelly Goldman, 34, in a 2004 collision in Coconut Creek, submitted a written statement, ''Every time I go by the crash scene, another part of me dies.'' Goldman was sent off for 17 years. A TOUGH SENTENCE Ramón Antonio Ovalles, drunk, crashed into a minivan, killing two, including a 10-year-old boy whose parents came into the Miami courtroom demanding a tough sentence. Ovalles got 12 years. South Florida DUI manslaughter convictions can bring life, or 85 years, or, if you're rich, 30 days. And victims' families have been granted ever-increasing influence. Carla Wagner, just over the legal blood-alcohol limit and distracted by her cellphone when she slammed into a young skateboarder in Pinecrest in 2001, seemed no more culpable than Stallworth, who was well over the limit when he struck Mario Reyes on the MacArthur Causeway. But the influential family of Wagner's victim, Helen Marie Witty, an appealing 16-year-old honor student, had come to the courtroom demanding justice. Wagner's prison time exceeded Stallworth's sentence by 1,798 days. The Miami Herald's David Ovalle explained the disparity in a single sentence. Stallworth, he wrote, ``also has agreed to pay an undisclosed civil settlement to the Reyes family.'' It's as if the prosecution acted as the family's agent. ''It's not about the people outside of the circle,'' Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle insisted Tuesday. ``This is what the family wanted.'' But this wasn't a private matter. Stallworth committed a crime against society. We're supposed to decide. Not the family. At least that used to be the case. Wayne Logan, a Florida State University law professor and the expert on ''victim impact evidence,'' said the concept evolved from a 1991 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing victim testimony. RIGHT TO TESTIFY Florida law now gives victims the right to testify at any felony sentencing about ``the extent of any harm, including social, psychological, or physical harm, financial losses, loss of earnings directly or indirectly resulting from the crime.'' Last year in Miami-Dade, the family of a young murder victim vetoed anything less than a 40-year sentence for Michael Hernandez, who was 14 when he stabbed a young school mate. Yet in Broward, the parents of 17-month Shaloh Joseph agreed to an 18-month sentence for her 12-year-old killer. And what about cases in which no one speaks for the victim? ''The danger lies in the potential inequality of the sentences,'' Professor Logan said. ``And one life becomes more valuable than another.'' In Miami, the value of one victim's life was set at ``an undisclosed civil settlement.''
KeysDawg
The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. - Carl Sagan
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South Florida DUI manslaughter convictions can bring life, or 85 years
Hmm.. how bout that..
20 years out of my butt huh?
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j/c Saint Quote:
South Florida DUI manslaughter convictions can bring life, or 85 years, or, if you're rich, 30 days.
Question here.......If you read the above quote from the article here it says South Florida.....i thought all laws regarding manslaughter and such were federal or state laws (correct me if i'm wrong) so does South Florida have its own set of laws that are different from the rest of Florida?
#gmstrong
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That article is 1) very poorly written and 2) factually inaccurate. Florida DUI Manslaughter (where the perpetrator does not flee the scene) carries a term of imprisonment of no more than 15 years. Code:
Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide-s. 316.193 (3), F.S.
DUI/Manslaughter: Second Degree Felony (not more than $10,000 fine and/or 15 years imprisonment).
sourceJust as an example of how misleading that piece is, the first person mentioned, David Whiting, as you might find if you did a bit of research, killed TWO people, had a BAC of .22, or three times the limit, plead no contest to 9 counts including the two DUI manslaughter charges, and had a history of drug- and alcohol-related criminal charges, some but not all of which were dismissed. Furthermore, THERE WAS NO TRIAL. Stallworth plead guilty and took a plea agreement that was signed off on by both the prosecuting attorney and the presiding judge. If they felt it was unjust, I doubt they would've agreed to the deal, as I'm willing to bet that neither the judge nor the prosecutor gives a crap who Donte Stallworth is.
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Legend
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What is factually inaccurate about the article? Or did you not notice the plurals used?
The point of the article is entirely valid. Stallworth bought a different justice, and thus by definition, justice was not done.
It is also entirely correct that it was a crime against society, same as Murder or Theft or Fraud, thus society decides punishment, not the family.
The family should have no say whatsoever in the sentencing. All of the examples cited where the family has had influence simply show how wrong their system is in Florida. The fact that Stallworth was able to buy time out of jail is sickening.
One crime, one punishment, regardless of your status, income level or profession. That is why statues of Justice are blindfolded and hold a balance, and a sword.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
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Quote:
What is factually inaccurate about the article? Or did you not notice the plurals used?
The part that said a DUI Manslaughter conviction can carry a life sentence.
Society does provide the punishment. The prosecuting attorney is acting as the agent of the people. Are you suggesting that Joe Everyman should be able to exact his notion of criminal punishment on perpetrators of crimes against society? I doubt that you are.
Stallworth got out of jail time because the prosecution's case was not a slam-dunk, due to the fact that the victim was potentially every bit as culpable in the matter as Stallworth was. The prosecution offers the deal, not Stallworth.
I'm also sick of it being portrayed that he's getting 30 days and that's that, no looking back. People are failing to consider the decade of probation, the house arrest, the lifetime forfeiture of driving privileges, the 1000 hours of community service...all aspects which are as much a part of his sentence as the 30 days' jail time.
The article also said that convictions can be affected by the testimony of the victim's family members. In this case, the family's decision not to testify was their testimony. They've already been cited as saying that they want to move on, and its their decision to make, not mine, yours, or anybody else's. Besides, they can't really testify if there was no trial at which to testify and, subsequently, no criminal conviction.
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Regarding other cases cited in that article:
Shelly Goldman fled the scene of her accident, which calls for a much stiffer sentence.
Carla Wagner plead guilty and got prison time, but no additional punishment.
Ramon Ovalles, couldn't find any information on, but the article states he killed multiple people.
Only one of those situations is remotely analogous to Stallworth's.
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Quote:
The family should have no say whatsoever in the sentencing.
I completely disagree, they were the ones affected by this.
People, (not you) are so enraged over this. This is what the family wanted, they are happier this way, done and done.
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Quote:
I'm also sick of it being portrayed that he's getting 30 days and that's that, no looking back. People are failing to consider the decade of probation, the house arrest, the lifetime forfeiture of driving privileges, the 1000 hours of
I agree, you could argue that is the least harsh of the sentence's
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j/c Linkydoo NFL's hammer will have little impactDespite the Donte' Stallworth furor, Roger Goodell won't have an equalizer Anybody who thinks NFL commissioner Roger Goodell can provide a harsher punishment than Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth just received for killing a man needs to pay attention: It's not going to happen. Goodell is in his comfort zone when it comes to hammering repeat violators of the law. He is equally capable of displaying adequate mercy when the opportunity arises. What he can't do, however, is wave a magic wand and appease the masses so incensed by the penalty a Florida judge handed Stallworth for his DUI manslaughter conviction. Look, we all know Stallworth got off light. He walked out of a Miami hotel bar on March 14, hopped into his black Bentley and ran over 59-year-old Mario Reyes minutes later. Stallworth registered a .126 blood alcohol level when tested, well above the Florida legal limit of .08. Stallworth faced as much as 15 years in prison. He wound up with something laughable: a 30-day sentence, a lifetime suspension of his driver's license, 1,000 hours of community service, two years of house arrest and eight years of probation. As weak as that penalty sounds, the important thing to remember is that Stallworth had his day in court and it obviously was a good one. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy saw all the evidence and heard all the statements. He clearly figured that Stallworth -- who called 911 after the accident and paid an undisclosed settlement to the Reyes family -- deserved as much leniency as the Miami-Dade prosecutor's office was offering. Now it's time for us to accept that Goodell's job isn't to deliver the knockout blow that Murphy and the state deemed unnecessary. For one thing, there's a big difference between punishing Stallworth and hammering somebody like Adam "Pacman" Jones for continually running afoul of the law. Penalizing a player like Pacman has to be much easier because there's an established pattern of unacceptable behavior to consider. In the case of Stallworth, you're talking about a guy who has one other reported incident in the league -- the Philadelphia Inquirer reported two years ago that Stallworth had violated the league's substance abuse policy -- and did a dumb thing that led to devastating results. Whatever suspension Stallworth receives isn't going to come anywhere close to the burden he'll carry for killing Reyes. You can look at St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little as proof of that. Little pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 1998 after he killed Susan Gutweiler while drinking and driving on the night of his birthday. There also was plenty of indignation when he received a 90-day jail sentence, 1,000 hours of community service, four years of probation and an eight-game suspension by the league. But Little also said he attempted suicide shortly after that tragedy. Even though Little didn't completely avoid trouble thereafter -- in 2005, he was convicted of misdemeanor speeding but acquitted of driving while intoxicated for a 2004 incident -- he still has to endure the guilt for what he did. There's no way those lost paychecks made him feel any worse than he does when he drives past the spot where he struck Gutweiler, which he does every time he heads from his home to the team facility. To be honest, it's quite possible that Little hardly ever thinks about that suspension when contemplating the weight of what he did. Little's case also is significant because there is at least some precedent here for Goodell to follow. The commissioner also has to consider the fact that Stallworth didn't run from his mistake. He accepted full responsibility at the time of the accident, and he's willing to get involved in drunken-driving education. Stallworth deserves some credit for that. If anything, Goodell should find a way to get Stallworth more involved in educating other players on the dangers of drinking and driving. The league has a program in place that allows players to a call a car service in any major city that will pick them up if they've been drinking. It's a great idea, except for the fact that some players don't trust it. They believe too many phone calls to that service will lead to more hassles from franchises when contract negotiations begin. If that is the case, Goodell and the NFL Players Association need to get together and create more confidentiality -- and confidence -- in that system. The idea is to protect the players, but it's obvious that public concerns have to weigh in to these decisions as well. Reyes was a construction crane operator who was rushing to catch a bus home when Stallworth hit him. He left behind a family that wisely felt it was best to accept Stallworth's settlement and move on with their lives. By the way, I'm not saying Goodell should take it easy on Stallworth. I just don't believe that whatever punishment Goodell doles out will have that much effect on how Stallworth behaves in the future. In many ways, I feel similarly about the decision Goodell has to make on former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who's nearing the end of his sentence for his involvement in an illegal dogfighting ring. Vick already has served two years in prison, and his bankruptcy issues are the only reason he might squirm under a Goodell suspension. What it ultimately comes down to is how the player decides to move forward in these situations. I have no doubt Stallworth deserved a stiffer punishment in court and that he's committed to making amends as best he can. So we need to accept that he already has faced the toughest scrutiny he ever could face in this case. In other words, anybody who's already pained by Stallworth's recent punishment shouldn't expect to feel any better when Goodell drops his own hammer. Senior writer Jeffri Chadiha covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
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Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Stallworth to be charged with DUI
Manslaughter
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