I was quite happy this morning when I sat down at my computer with my steaming cup of joe, and read "Plaxico pleads guilty and will serve 2 years in prison."
I was afraid Plaxico Burress was going to get off considering the fact that another wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, served 24 days out of a 30-day sentence for killing someone while driving drunk. Lets just say they both make me question why I watch professional sports. There are other reasons, like the steroids, the rapes, the drug and gun charges, and dog killing ... I mean dog fighting, but right now I am talking about these two.
In a public statement Stallworth apologized and said he will conduct himself "in a manner that more accurately reflects who I am and meets the high standard expected of all NFL players." I think he believes we all just feel off the back of a pineapple truck heading down the Pali on its way to the West side of Maui and smashed our head into the pavement and lost all ability to decipher between bullshit and the truth.
What about an apology to society? He went on to say, "I recognize that there is a difference between the legal standard in my criminal case and the standard to which NFL players are held. It is clear I exercised poor judgment and caused irreparable harm to Mario Reyes, his family, the NFL, its owners, coaches, employees, and to my fellow players."
I am sickened by this statement. What harm did he cause to the owners, employees, and his fellow players? Less money in their pockets? Get off the kiss ass, bullshit train, and tell the truth!
The good news is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Stallworth for the 2009 season without pay. The NFL gave him a harsher sentence than the government for killing a man.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
The Stallworth sentencing absolutely baffled me, and the only valid reason I heard about it was that the Reyes family did not want to get dragged through a trial, and wanted closure as soon as possible. Stallworth had a slick lawyer who probably pointed out that Reyes was illegally crossing the road. None of this adds up to 30 days in prison, of course. Florida DUI manslaughter is a four-year minimum sentence.
As for Burress, most of the punishment was self-inflicted. Two years seems like a lot, but ... Vick broke the law in his own house. Stallworth broke the law in a nearly-empty Miami street. Burress broke the law in a crowded New York night club.
And if we look at all the prison time served by players -- Jamal Lewis got four months for drug trafficking -- we're all going to have a John Nash-type breakdown trying to figure out the correct pattern. Every case has different circumstances, with different lawyers and plaintiffs with varying interest in justice. No use worrying ourselves over who gets what justice.
2 - Heather Hogan
Well put and I couldn't agree more!
3 - Clavos
The Miami Herald reported that Stallworth paid an undisclosed sum to the family, and thus bought his way out of an appropriate sentence.
Justice South Florida style.
Bah.
4 - Tony
I love how pious everyone is about Stallworth. The guy blew a .12 which is probably about 3-4 beers for him. The guy killed WAS illegally crossing the road not at the crosswalk. And Stallworth flashed his lights to warn the man. This could happen to anyone who drinks (which I don't). He wasn't drunk, he drank, an accident happened, and because he drank he was punished. If he hadn't had a couple of beers no one would be calling him a murderer and yet anyone who has ever been to a bar knows that a .12 is drunk only by legal standards. Not only was he not really drunk, he was doing 50 in a 40. Not even considered reckless driving in most states.
"A police diagram shows that Reyes was hit in the far left lane of the six-lane MacArthur Causeway -- not in a nearby crosswalk. Stallworth stopped a few feet away."
The guy was standing in the lane of a 6 lane causeway.
If you want to outlaw bars fine but as long as you can drive some place, have a drink and then drive home, these things are going to happen. Hell, outlaw alcohol all together if you want to. But he is not a murderer, he is unlucky. If anyone reading this story has ever gone to bar and had more than two beers (for you ladies two beers would probably get you past the limit), and then driven home, you have no right to judge because the exact same thing could happen to you at any time.
5 - El Bicho
"is drunk only by legal standards."
Those are the only standards that matter. And he wasn't just drunk. He had also been smoking marijuana
6 - Matthew T. Sussman
"But he is not a murderer"
Correct. That's why they call it "manslaughter."
7 - Tony
Well if "by legal standards" is the one thing that matters then I guess we shouldn't complain when the law decides his punishment and it is not to our liking.
8 - Tony
I should have used the term killer instead of murderer. I didn't consider the reference to the actual legal classification.
9 - zingzing
burress won't serve 2 years. probably more like 10 months. if that. just the way these things work. then again, new york isn't a hick state where you can just flash a gun around anywhere you like. like in front of the president. or something. not that he ever took it out of his pants, which didn't include a concealed carry license. silly man shot himself anyway. that must have hurt. pretty low moment, i say. he cries himself to sleep tonight.
10 - Clavos
Well if "by legal standards" is the one thing that matters then I guess we shouldn't complain when the law decides his punishment and it is not to our liking.
The law did not "decide his punishment," the court allowed him to bribe his way out of punishment by paying off the family of the man he killed.
Drunk or not, and El Bicho is correct, he was also stoned on pot, but regardless, the man he hit is still dead.
Whether or not the man he killed was in the crosswalk is immaterial. By law, pedestrians have the right of way over vehicles in Florida; even in the middle of the roadway.
11 - Heather Hogan
Thank you Clavos! Pedestrians have the right of way, and I am sorry, but he was legally drunk. I can tell you, that sober, he would have been able to stop!
12 - brad laidman
"I can tell you, that sober, he would have been able to stop!"
how in hell could you possibly know that?
13 - buzmeg
The only similarity between the Burress, and Stallworth cases is that they are both professional football players. There is nothing else to compare; different jurisdictions, different crimes, different penalties.
Additionally, the family of the deceased in the Stallworth case agreed to the plea which was to accept Stallworth's money. Thus, on the surface it looks as if Stallworth "got away with murder" when in fact the victim's family took the money and let him (Stallworth) run.
14 - zingzing
"I can tell you, that sober, he would have been able to stop!"
have to agree with brad here. there's no way you could know that.
15 - ben
Next time a kid runs out into the middle of the street out of nowhere, I'll remind you he has the right of way
16 - WFNYCraig
Pedestrians don't have the right of way on the freeway. Like it or not but the law is written to include contributory negligence. If Mario Reyes had been standing on a sidewalk and Stallworth had lost control of his car and killed him, it would have been a far different case. Mario Reyes contributed SIGNIFICANTLY to his own death.
I couldn't stand Donte Stallworth as a player for my Cleveland Browns. I am happy he isn't going to play for them again. Still, to think that he isn't entitled to justice in a court where the law has shades of grey is ludicrous.
To compare Plaxico, Michael Vick and Donte Stallworth is really silly. Combine this with the misconceptions regarding Vick's trial, and it turns into a giant cluster of confusion.
Vick was not sent to jail for dog fighting. He was sent to jail for running a gambling ring that sometimes included transactions across state lines. Cruelty to animals had hardly anything to do with it.
17 - Clavos
Thus, on the surface it looks as if Stallworth "got away with murder" when in fact the victim's family took the money and let him (Stallworth) run.
Right. He bribed his way out of an appropriate sentence.
Pedestrians don't have the right of way on the freeway.
He wasn't on the freeway, he was on the MacArthur Causeway, and there is a crosswalk, so obviously pedestrians routinely cross that roadway.
Incredible that all you people are defending a drunken pot smoker who killed a man and then bribed the victim's family to circumvent the law and escape punishment.
Even more incredible that the courts let him get away with it.
18 - Clavos
Thus, on the surface it looks as if Stallworth "got away with murder" when in fact the victim's family took the money and let him (Stallworth) run.
Right. He bribed his way out of an appropriate sentence.
Pedestrians don't have the right of way on the freeway.
He wasn't on the freeway, he was on the MacArthur Causeway, and there is a crosswalk, so obviously pedestrians routinely cross that roadway.
Incredible that all you people are defending a drunken pot smoker who killed a man and then bribed the victim's family to circumvent the law and escape punishment.
Even more incredible that the courts let him get away with it.
19 - Heather Hogan
True, I don't know that, and I should not have made that comment. I apologize!
20 - truth
1. He (Stallworth) had pot in his system, you are making an assumption that he was high at the time of the accident. You do not know as pot stays in the system for days.
2. All the sports fan/legal experts who have knowledge of just a few of the facts and just a few of the laws are unqualified to make a judgement on what is and isn't justice in this case. The judge has to approve any plea deal as arbitor. For whatever reason, the prosecution, the defense AND the arbitrator agreed to this settlement, thus it must have been just considering all facts.
3. The facts of the case dictated the punishment.
I mean, if I murdered say WFNY Craig, and then paid off his family with my internet millions of dollars, wouldn't the law still prosecute me for murder if it were so obvious that I was the guilty man?
What happened that day on that freeway was terrible, but it is just as terrible to be hit by a car while illegally crossing the street as it is to kill another man while driving home buzzed. Stallworth never tried to deny culpability, he was always very aware of what happened.
This whole thing is being fed by people half researching and reacting rather than taking the time to evaluate the entire situation. Then someone reads or hears that half-concocted opinion and they form an opinion based on that.
21 - Tony
All good points. Pot stays in your system for a month, not days, furthering your point. It is stored in the fat cells so, through a blood test, could be detected for a very long time.