30 day jail sentence for killing someone while drunk??

[predatorkj]

That's BS. When a cop pulled me over because he saw me pulling out of a bar parking lot, I got a DUI. No harm done to anybody, not even as much as a swerve. I was facing up to 6 months jail. Being a first time offender, with no record whatsoever, I was offered a deal for a $3,000 fine and 6 months of probation. Also a 30 day license suspension and mandatory classes. Wish I was an NFL player, I probably wouldn't have had anything.

Yeah and they aren't supposed to be hiding out around bars like that.We used to go to a bar quite a lot just to hang out with friends but they started sitting in the parking lot of burger king right next to the place.They were always waiting in their car watching.We stopped going altogether now.Not that we get wasted but I am not getting the axe for a beer or two.I just stay home.Not worth it.The bad thing is its our tax dollars going into stuff like this when there is plenty of other crap going on they could be taking care of.Its just like they wait on the side of the freeway during the morning when people are trying to get to work and pulling people over.How about you have people out there at night when all of the street racing is going on and people like me are trying to get home with Hondas zipping by me at well over 100 mph.

 

[Card Magnet]

That's BS. When a cop pulled me over because he saw me pulling out of a bar parking lot, I got a DUI. No harm done to anybody, not even as much as a swerve. I was facing up to 6 months jail. Being a first time offender, with no record whatsoever, I was offered a deal for a $3,000 fine and 6 months of probation. Also a 30 day license suspension and mandatory classes. Wish I was an NFL player, I probably wouldn't have had anything.

Yeah and they aren't supposed to be hiding out around bars like that.We used to go to a bar quite a lot just to hang out with friends but they started sitting in the parking lot of burger king right next to the place.They were always waiting in their car watching.We stopped going altogether now.Not that we get wasted but I am not getting the axe for a beer or two.I just stay home.Not worth it.The bad thing is its our tax dollars going into stuff like this when there is plenty of other crap going on they could be taking care of.Its just like they wait on the side of the freeway during the morning when people are trying to get to work and pulling people over.How about you have people out there at night when all of the street racing is going on and people like me are trying to get home with Hondas zipping by me at well over 100 mph.

That's the only reason I got pulled over, and it pisses me off. The cop said I went into the oncoming lane. I guess my car grew wings and went over the medial strip to do it...

I definitely know what you mean about the street racing. All of the kids think they're pro racers because they have a Civic with a wing and fart can. I hate my generation. It's quite entertaining when their import tuner pulls up beside me, revs, and I answer back with my v8 Firebird. They then take off, and I just start driving normal.

 

[predatorkj]

[quote="Card Magnet":2ta8uhi8]That's BS. When a cop pulled me over because he saw me pulling out of a bar parking lot, I got a DUI. No harm done to anybody, not even as much as a swerve. I was facing up to 6 months jail. Being a first time offender, with no record whatsoever, I was offered a deal for a $3,000 fine and 6 months of probation. Also a 30 day license suspension and mandatory classes. Wish I was an NFL player, I probably wouldn't have had anything.

Yeah and they aren't supposed to be hiding out around bars like that.We used to go to a bar quite a lot just to hang out with friends but they started sitting in the parking lot of burger king right next to the place.They were always waiting in their car watching.We stopped going altogether now.Not that we get wasted but I am not getting the axe for a beer or two.I just stay home.Not worth it.The bad thing is its our tax dollars going into stuff like this when there is plenty of other crap going on they could be taking care of.Its just like they wait on the side of the freeway during the morning when people are trying to get to work and pulling people over.How about you have people out there at night when all of the street racing is going on and people like me are trying to get home with Hondas zipping by me at well over 100 mph.

That's the only reason I got pulled over, and it pisses me off. The cop said I went into the oncoming lane. I guess my car grew wings and went over the medial strip to do it...

I definitely know what you mean about the street racing. All of the kids think they're pro racers because they have a Civic with a wing and fart can. I hate my generation. It's quite entertaining when their import tuner pulls up beside me, revs, and I answer back with my v8 Firebird. They then take off, and I just start driving normal.[/quote:2ta8uhi8]


Well they can't keep up with my dodge either but I don't race it.I used to think stuff like that was cool but now I worry about things like a blow out or flipping over and it really makes me not want to do it.Guess I just got older and smarter.A lot of the crap kids do these days it will be a wonder if they ever make it to that point.

 

[vaughn]

Donte is a good guy, he made a big mistake that many people make and the worse case scenario happened. Should he spend years upon years in prison resulting in two lives forever lost? He's been incredibly remorseful, had a clean record going into this offense... its not like he's some out of control athlete doing whatever he wants... (vick with all his marijuana convictions), he's a guy who made a tragic, tragic mistake and now he will pay with a majority of his entire life's hard work by losing a vast amount of money and being forever tainted, and living with the fact that he took a man's life.

And in reality, atleast it was him that did that to the guy and not some bum with 4 prior DUI's and no money, because while that family's life is forever saddened and turned upside down, atleast they won't have to worry about fending for themselves and will be able to mourn without having to worry about how to pay their bills.

It's a terrible situation all together period.

 

[vaughn]

Also, before everyone starts freaking out:

"a punishment made possible by his cooperation with investigators and the fervent wish by the victim’s family to put the matter behind them"

"The athlete also reached a confidential financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker"

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?prov=a ... &type=lgns


So it's not like the family is screaming and freakin out over the verdict, they understand it was a mistake and want to move on without putting donte in prison for tons of years and he has taken care of them financially.

So i ask, why does everyone get so bent out of shape over the sentence when the man's family is ok with it?

 

[predatorkj]

Also, before everyone starts freaking out:

"a punishment made possible by his cooperation with investigators and the fervent wish by the victim’s family to put the matter behind them"

"The athlete also reached a confidential financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker"

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?prov=a ... &type=lgns


So it's not like the family is screaming and freakin out over the verdict, they understand it was a mistake and want to move on without putting donte in prison for tons of years and he has taken care of them financially.

So i ask, why does everyone get so bent out of shape over the sentence when the man's family is ok with it?

Because for you me and the next guy this would not happen.I like my justice fair and square.It could be you in that situation one day(hopefully not) and then you'd be eating your own words as they hauled you off to jail.

 

[Card Magnet]

Also, before everyone starts freaking out:

"a punishment made possible by his cooperation with investigators and the fervent wish by the victim’s family to put the matter behind them"

"The athlete also reached a confidential financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker"

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?prov=a ... &type=lgns


So it's not like the family is screaming and freakin out over the verdict, they understand it was a mistake and want to move on without putting donte in prison for tons of years and he has taken care of them financially.

So i ask, why does everyone get so bent out of shape over the sentence when the man's family is ok with it?

Because for you me and the next guy this would not happen.I like my justice fair and square.It could be you in that situation one day(hopefully not) and then you'd be eating your own words as they hauled you off to jail.

Nicely put.

If it were just a man off the street who did this, the DA would go after them for as much as they could in court, or settle with a plea that was so much heavier than what they offered Stallworth. You face 30 days in jail for a DUI period (at least in PA). This doesn't count killing a man.

 

[Kutzy]

This is from a different board im on, its written quite well by a guy with good knowledge of the case:


I was pretty outraged too, until I heard a little bit more of the backstory...

I have heard it reported that the discrepancy is due to a number of factors:
(a) Stallworth has a clean record prior to this
(b) Stallworth stayed at the scene and cooperated fully with police
(c) Stallworth reached out to the family to begin reparations, reducing the family's desire to pursue more aggressive punishment

but more importantly

(d) The victim is alleged to have darted out into the street, not in a crosswalk. This raises the question of whether Stallworth (or anyone else) could have avoided him even if he were stone cold sober. Apparently, witness interviews made this a very significant possibility. If Stallworth's legal team went to court and argued this, the D.A. wasn't sure he'd get a conviction and Stallworth would walk. Since the D.A. wasn't sure he could win the case, he settled to try to salvage something out of the case.

With regard to the severity of Vick's sentencing, Vick had a much less stringent sentence agreed to in a plea bargain with prosecutors for his case, but a condition of that was Vick's cooperation in providing information on other dogfighting rings around the country and/or other information. Apparently, the FBI and the District Attorney's office felt that Vick reneged on his promise and not only was not cooperative, but actively LIED to the authorities despite his plea bargain agreement. That led to the judge inflicting a MUCH harsher sentence on Vick. Vick premeditated his crimes, tried to cover them up, attempted to obstruct the investigation, and to top it off made a plea bargain deal and then violated it. That all adds up to as stiff a jail time sentence as the judge can impose.

So it's not quite as simple as measuring a dog's life against a human's. You have to also consider the human's culpability into his own demise versus the fact that the dogs are innocent victims and the fact that one person cooperated with authorities and the other was openly hostile.

No doubt Stallworth's money helped him out tremendously here, as the D.A. was probably worried about the resources that they would be able to bring to bear to create doubt as to whether it was humanly possible to avoid the man whether one was drunk or not, but it's not as horrendous a miscarriage of justice as it first appeared--at least, imho.

 

[Kutzy]

To clarify my position, I think all DUI cases should hold stronger punishments, wheter you killed someone or not. In this particular case when put up against other ones, I think the punishment fit the crime. I personally would have liked to have seen him spend years in prison, however our justice system as it stands would favor Stallworth in this case. (At least as far as I know). Stallworths attorney apparently could create enough probable doubt as to possibly get Stallworth off completely.

 

[predatorkj]

This is from a different board im on, its written quite well by a guy with good knowledge of the case:


I was pretty outraged too, until I heard a little bit more of the backstory...

I have heard it reported that the discrepancy is due to a number of factors:
(a) Stallworth has a clean record prior to this
(b) Stallworth stayed at the scene and cooperated fully with police
(c) Stallworth reached out to the family to begin reparations, reducing the family's desire to pursue more aggressive punishment

but more importantly

(d) The victim is alleged to have darted out into the street, not in a crosswalk. This raises the question of whether Stallworth (or anyone else) could have avoided him even if he were stone cold sober. Apparently, witness interviews made this a very significant possibility. If Stallworth's legal team went to court and argued this, the D.A. wasn't sure he'd get a conviction and Stallworth would walk. Since the D.A. wasn't sure he could win the case, he settled to try to salvage something out of the case.

With regard to the severity of Vick's sentencing, Vick had a much less stringent sentence agreed to in a plea bargain with prosecutors for his case, but a condition of that was Vick's cooperation in providing information on other dogfighting rings around the country and/or other information. Apparently, the FBI and the District Attorney's office felt that Vick reneged on his promise and not only was not cooperative, but actively LIED to the authorities despite his plea bargain agreement. That led to the judge inflicting a MUCH harsher sentence on Vick. Vick premeditated his crimes, tried to cover them up, attempted to obstruct the investigation, and to top it off made a plea bargain deal and then violated it. That all adds up to as stiff a jail time sentence as the judge can impose.

So it's not quite as simple as measuring a dog's life against a human's. You have to also consider the human's culpability into his own demise versus the fact that the dogs are innocent victims and the fact that one person cooperated with authorities and the other was openly hostile.

No doubt Stallworth's money helped him out tremendously here, as the D.A. was probably worried about the resources that they would be able to bring to bear to create doubt as to whether it was humanly possible to avoid the man whether one was drunk or not, but it's not as horrendous a miscarriage of justice as it first appeared--at least, imho.

Fair enough but all I am saying is that nobody normal would have walked.The problem is, like I said, they always place the blame on you if you are over the limit because there is no way to prove that you may or may not have been able to avoid it but the law, for the most part, feels that someone under the influence is way lees capable than a sober person who may be able to avoid things.



The only reason the family settled is because they had dollar signs in their eyes.

 

[lisu]

Fair enough but all I am saying is that nobody normal would have walked.The problem is, like I said, they always place the blame on you if you are over the limit because there is no way to prove that you may or may not have been able to avoid it but the law, for the most part, feels that someone under the influence is way lees capable than a sober person who may be able to avoid things.



The only reason the family settled is because they had dollar signs in their eyes.

I'm not entirely sure. The clean record usually shows that Stallworth isn't a habitual drunk (or at least hasn't been caught). This is a normal situation for anyone who has a first time DUI death. Also, with the circumstances that the guy might have darted into traffic - then I can understand why the DA would agree to settle. If Donte had been sober, he probably wouldn't have had any jail time at all.

 

[lisu]

Just a FYI - I was on a jury for a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter case. The DA had to prove that the victim was in the crosswalk, and that the driver was negligent. That's why I think that he would have walked if he had not been drinking.

 

[predatorkj]

Fair enough but all I am saying is that nobody normal would have walked.The problem is, like I said, they always place the blame on you if you are over the limit because there is no way to prove that you may or may not have been able to avoid it but the law, for the most part, feels that someone under the influence is way lees capable than a sober person who may be able to avoid things.



The only reason the family settled is because they had dollar signs in their eyes.

I'm not entirely sure. The clean record usually shows that Stallworth isn't a habitual drunk (or at least hasn't been caught). This is a normal situation for anyone who has a first time DUI death. Also, with the circumstances that the guy might have darted into traffic - then I can understand why the DA would agree to settle. If Donte had been sober, he probably wouldn't have had any jail time at all.

I understand what you are saying but the only thing I can say is...don't try it.Not if you value your freedom.

 

[lisu]

I understand what you are saying but the only thing I can say is...don't try it.Not if you value your freedom.

Oh, I hear you. I am not going to try. I'd rather keep my house and my investments.