Michael Vick is out of jail and signed with the Eagles for 1.6 million or so after serving 19 months just down the street on his dogfighting conviction.
Donte' Stallworth finds himself unable to play football this year because he killed a man, and the league suspended him without pay. Stallworth will also spend... 30 days in jail.
Now, I realize that killing a man because you're an a$$hole out driving drunk has a very different criminal intent component vice running a dog fighting ring for years, and the crimes are apples and oranges...
But 30 days for killing someone seems a bit... light. I love dogs as much as any PETA member, but this still just strikes me as... dissonant. Poor Mr. Reyes seems somewhat overlooked here, however much his family may have received in compensation from Stallworth. Of course, Mr. Reyes has some culpability for his actions in running across the road, and one has to consider the possibility that Stallworth would have hit Reyes even if Stallworth had been stone cold sober.
Remind me if I feel like driving drunk and want to take the risk of killing somebody while doing it, to do it down there in Florida (and it probably doesn't hurt to be rich and a famous football player) and not here in Kansas. We seem to take it more seriously up here.
INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
The Kansas Legislature passed stiffer penalties effective July 1, 1996, for those convicted of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence. If sentenced under this law, you will likely receive imprisonment, ranging from 38 to 172 months. A new law passed in 2001 amends the criminal history classification law dealing with the crime of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs to provide that a prior DUI violation of another state's law of a city ordinance or county resolution shall count for criminal history purposes as a person felony.
Except... when you check Florida's law on the subject... they seem to take it just as seriously as Kansas does...
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).
Heh. Clearly, being able to afford a good lawyer and make your team competitive counts for a lot in extenuation and mitigation.
12 Comments
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My feelings are that if he learned his lesson, Mr Vick deserves a second chance. He screws up again, we introduce him to a Great Dane with an overactive libido.
He seems to have genuinely learned the err of his ways. I'm willing to give him a second chance... but I'm surprised that the Eagles signed him. It's not like they need another starting QB.
The Bengals on the other hand... !!!
And you're absolutely right, John.
30 days for manslaughter!!??? WTF is that about? You can darn well bet that if a normal person did that, they wouldn't get 30 days.
And, as for the other? 30 days? Drunk-driving manslaughter? Seriously? What IS this world coming to?
One day I'll tell you the story about what happened to someone who actually had a Monopoly Get Out of Jail Free card in his wallet and gorked out on drugs at a concert.
Regardless, it's not like Vick didn't know it was wrong when he started that little enterprise...
He's no role-model, and my kids know why. But that doesn't make him a bad ball player- it just makes him someone I don't want them looking up to as some sort of sports hero.
mythe Eagles.