STL Fan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Meh, Vick, Stallworth, they're just a bunch of common criminals. Not bitin' on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Interesting to see the reactions here. I have no horse in this race, and frankly, I personally couldn't care one iota about the NFL future of Donte Stallworth. I have always been a "by the book" person, and up until the moment when it was disclosed that the victim was mostly to blame, felt that Stallworth should do maximum time: 15 years. But I put myself in Stallworth's shoes, and I can't help feel the guy was the victim of some bad judgement on his own part, and terrible luck. Had the victim just waited at the light for it to change, and crossed in the designated walk, this accident had a much lesser chance of happening. In my youth, I must admit I have driven while probably inebriated on several occasions. To think that I could have gone to jail for 15 years because some person, in the comission of their own misdemeanor offense, caused their own death at my hands, is startling and eye-opening. I guess I am in the minoritty here since many here agree with Godell....I just happen to side with the judge & the victim's family, all of whom realized that it was the victim (to a huge degree) that was responsible for his own death. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Interesting to see the reactions here. I have no horse in this race, and frankly, I personally couldn't care one iota about the NFL future of Donte Stallworth. I have always been a "by the book" person, and up until the moment when it was disclosed that the victim was mostly to blame, felt that Stallworth should do maximum time: 15 years. But I put myself in Stallworth's shoes, and I can't help feel the guy was the victim of some bad judgement on his own part, and terrible luck. Had the victim just waited at the light for it to change, and crossed in the designated walk, this accident had a much lesser chance of happening. In my youth, I must admit I have driven while probably inebriated on several occasions. To think that I could have gone to jail for 15 years because some person, in the comission of their own misdemeanor offense, caused their own death at my hands, is startling and eye-opening. I guess I am in the minoritty here since many here agree with Godell....I just happen to side with the judge & the victim's family, all of whom realized that it was the victim (to a huge degree) that was responsible for his own death. . I understand what you're sayin' here Swammi, and I have always respected your opinion, I just think there is NO WAY you can know for sure that the pedestrian was at fault AT ALL other than the acount given by the defendant. There are no witnesses, and only a short piece of grainy video tape that doesn't show much of anything. There are so many questions and the only answers are coming from Stallworth himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Because operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and operating a firearm while intoxicated are both criminal offenses. I acknowledged that in my 2nd post. Agreed. It is not illegal to be drunk in public, either. I never said it was, I said it was illegal to be drunk while driving on a public road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Here's the million dollar question Swammi, regarding your symapthy based on terrible luck theory: Do you think if Michael Vick , just kidding, Donte Stallworth was stone cold sober the other guy would be dead? If you answer no, or even not sure, than I think he's guilty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 I understand what you're sayin' here Swammi, and I have always respected your opinion, I just think there is NO WAY you can know for sure that the pedestrian was at fault AT ALL other than the acount given by the defendant. There are no witnesses, and only a short piece of grainy video tape that doesn't show much of anything. There are so many questions and the only answers are coming from Stallworth himself. Appreciate the respect thing. Both sides acknowledged that the victim was committing an offense, based on where the accident occurred (about 30 yards BEFORE the intersection). There is no way the accident could have happened at the light, and the victims body catapaulted 30 yards backwards. If you are not crossing in a crosswalk, you are jaywalking (on any street). To try it at dawn in poor light, on a posted 45 mph highway (when most people are likely driving 50-55 mph) is insane. I appreciate that he was a blue collar guy trying to catch a bus to get to work...makes the story that much sadder for everyone. Had he been a drug dealer evading police on foot, I bet everyone takes a different view of this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Here's the million dollar question Swammi, regarding your symapthy based on terrible luck theory: Do you think if Michael Vick , just kidding, Donte Stallworth was stone cold sober the other guy would be dead? If you answer no, or even not sure, than I think he's guilty. Exactly. (I just agreed with Hugh. I feel dirty.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Appreciate the respect thing. Both sides acknowledged that the victim was committing an offense, based on where the accident occurred (about 30 yards BEFORE the intersection). There is no way the accident could have happened at the light, and the victims body catapaulted 30 yards backwards. If you are not crossing in a crosswalk, you are jaywalking (on any street). To try it at dawn in poor light, on a posted 45 mph highway (when most people are likely driving 50-55 mph) is insane. I appreciate that he was a blue collar guy trying to catch a bus to get to work...makes the story that much sadder for everyone. Had he been a drug dealer evading police on foot, I bet everyone takes a different view of this case. True, but the penalty is usually not death. Would he have died if Stallworth were sober? You can't possibly know that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Here's the million dollar question Swammi, regarding your symapthy based on terrible luck theory: Do you think if Michael Vick , just kidding, Donte Stallworth was stone cold sober the other guy would be dead? If you answer no, or even not sure, than I think he's guilty. Man, good question....I really don't know. I don't think anyone can answer that question. Something tells me that yes, I do think he'd still be dead....from everything I've read, he was darting accross the road, and made no attempt to stop or reverse course. He just kept coming. Of course, much of this is Stallworth's word, but some of it has been proven likely true by crime sene investigators. I don't know there is any way to answer that question with 100% confidence. The only question I know 100% for sure I can answer is this: If the guy hadn't been jaywalking in the middle of a 45 mph highway, would he be dead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Man, good question....I really don't know. I don't think anyone can answer that question. Something tells me that yes, I do think he'd still be dead....from everything I've read, he was darting accross the road, and made no attempt to stop or reverse course. He just kept coming. Of course, much of this is Stallworth's word, but some of it has been proven likely true by crime sene investigators. I don't know there is any way to answer that question with 100% confidence. The only question I know 100% for sure I can answer is this: If the guy hadn't been jaywalking in the middle of a 45 mph highway, would he be dead? Can you really be sure that if he was crossing at the light he would have lived? Stallworth was freakin' hammered. If he had crossed at the light, completely legally, there is as good a chance as any that he would still be dead, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Man, good question....I really don't know. I don't think anyone can answer that question. Something tells me that yes, I do think he'd still be dead....from everything I've read, he was darting accross the road, and made no attempt to stop or reverse course. He just kept coming. Of course, much of this is Stallworth's word, but some of it has been proven likely true by crime sene investigators. I don't know there is any way to answer that question with 100% confidence. The only question I know 100% for sure I can answer is this: If the guy hadn't been jaywalking in the middle of a 45 mph highway, would he be dead? If Stallworth's reaction was at all inhibited by his state of mind there's a good chance he would have reacted quicker/better and the guy wouldn't be dead. That's it in a nutshell for me. I understand the pedestrian was jaywalking, but jaywalking should not be grounds for getting run down by a drunk driver. I'll leave it at that. We'll see what STL Fan has to say after his shower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 If Stallworth's reaction was at all inhibited by his state of mind there's a good chance he would have reacted quicker/better and the guy wouldn't be dead. That's it in a nutshell for me. I understand the pedestrian was jaywalking, but jaywalking should not be grounds for getting run down by a drunk driver. I'll leave it at that. We'll see what STL Fan has to say after his shower. This made Diet Pepsi come out of my nose. Curse you, Hugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Can you really be sure that if he was crossing at the light he would have lived? Stallworth was freakin' hammered. If he had crossed at the light, completely legally, there is as good a chance as any that he would still be dead, right? Well, now you are getting into some serious "what ifs". There is really no way we can debate these, but I'll try. Stallworth was driving on a high-speed road while "hammered", but had successfully navigated all the traffic lights/turns/other cars to this point (to the best of my knowledge). Are you saying that, if this light was red, Stallworth would have likely blown through it and hit a pedestrian? I guess anything is possible. But in the context of what actually did happen.....if the victim hadn't been in the illegal positon in which he was, he is alive today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Well, now you are getting into some serious "what ifs". There is really no way we can debate these, but I'll try. Stallworth was driving on a high-speed road while "hammered", but had successfully navigated all the traffic lights/turns/other cars to this point (to the best of my knowledge). Are you saying that, if this light was red, Stallworth would have likely blown through it and hit a pedestrian? I guess anything is possible. But in the context of what actually did happen.....if the victim hadn't been in the illegal positon in which he was, he is alive today. And because of the time of day he may have blown through every single red light up to that point with no collisions because there was no traffic. Why the quote marks around the word "hammered" by the way? The guy was nearly double the legal limit. He also claimed to have flashed his lights to warn the guy. If you had time to flash the lights, why not apply the brakes? This was not a case of the guy suddenly appearing out of nowhere, by Stallworth's own admission. If he's telling the truth, he had plenty of time to stop. This was a guy who killed a guy because he was impaired, not because the deceased was 30 ft away from where he should have been. I was a philosophy minor in college and every now and again it flares up. I'll be quiet now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Appreciate the respect thing. Both sides acknowledged that the victim was committing an offense, based on where the accident occurred (about 30 yards BEFORE the intersection). There is no way the accident could have happened at the light, and the victims body catapaulted 30 yards backwards. If you are not crossing in a crosswalk, you are jaywalking (on any street). To try it at dawn in poor light, on a posted 45 mph highway (when most people are likely driving 50-55 mph) is insane. I appreciate that he was a blue collar guy trying to catch a bus to get to work...makes the story that much sadder for everyone. Had he been a drug dealer evading police on foot, I bet everyone takes a different view of this case. Swammi, I too respect your opinion on this, I totally get where you are coming from. I just disagree on Stallworth's level of culpability and think his punishment was fair, maybe even a bit lenient. I get really hot on these issues because of the way society is headed in general, I think it sends a really bad message when star athletes and other performers get away with things the rest of us wouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Muto Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 As a Browns fan I say good riddance to Mr over paid Stallworth. Browns prolly celebrated when they heard the news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 As a Browns fan I say good riddance to Mr over paid Stallworth. Browns prolly celebrated when they heard the news. Wouldn't he still count against their cap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Wouldn't he still count against their cap? Any prorated part of the signing bonus would. But since the suspension means no pay during it, the 2009 salary he would have received does not count against the cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 heard Goodell say today that Stallworth willl be reinstated after the Super Bowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpholmes Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 heard Goodell say today that Stallworth willl be reinstated after the Super Bowl. Good, maybe playing football will get him to stop Twittering for a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.