In case you haven’t heard yet, ex-Patriots WR Donte’ Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in prison for the manslaughter of a pedestrian in a drunk driving accident in March 2009. Stallworth fully cooperated with investigators at the time of the accident and throughout the investigation. Stallworth will have his license suspended for life, but may gain limited approval after five years for work-related driving.
While many are up in arms of the short sentence, there were some mitigating factors at play in this case:
- The pedestrian was not in a crosswalk when he crossed the causeway to catch a bus home. Instead, he was in the left lane of a six-lane highway.
- Poor lighting: despite the accident happening around 7AM, it was still dark at the time.
- Stallworth tried to signal to the pedestrian by blinking his lights (and possibly breaking). Stallworth was going over the speed limit, but only 50MPH in 40MPH zone.
- Stallworth fully cooperated with officials and made the 911 call himself on the day of the accident (knowing full-well he had been drinking).
Clearly, not all the evidence has come out to the public (at least that I could find) on this one, but it does appear that there is more to this case than what quickly meets the eye. That said, 30 days seems like an awfully short sentence for what Stallworth did, especially given that he was driving drunk. The NFL will also have their say about the incident and what actions, if any, they will take against Stallworth.
Also, just to put a pervasive rumor going around the web to rest, regardless of what Stallworth pays/paid the victim’s family in a settlement, it had no bearing on the outcome his criminal sentencing today. Civil cases (where payments are generally made) are not the same as criminal cases (this one). Go back to your high school Law class notes for more details!