Stallworth

While not completely sports related, I feel that the Donte Stallworth sentence is a topic that should be discussed. As you know, he got 30 days in jail with 8 years probation. Also, I think its fair to say that Roger Goddell will come down hard on him and probably suspend him for between 8 and 10 games (in my opinion). Also, as a lawyer who has done criminal defense work his whole career, 8 years of probation is not a joke. Even in the federal system, the most a person will get is 5 years.
That being said, this judgment is garbage and makes me sad to be a lawyer and disheartened to be a sports fan. Apparently, Stallworth struck a settlement with the victim's family and the Prosecution felt this was enough of a gesture to only give him 30 days for killing someone.
Essentially, the family put a price tag on their lost love one and the Prosecution agreed. To disect this, if Stallworth had gone to trial or not struck this specific deal and was sentenced to (for the sake of argument) 5 years in prison, the famiyl still would have sued him civilly. But, in jail and paying for lawyers, Stallworth (like vick) would have declared bankruptcy and the family would not have gotten much money. So, they let Stallworth walk so they could get paid. Very sad turn of events.
As a criminal defense lawyer, this appauls me greatly. I'm not going to get into the list of things my clients have done, but only a couple have involved killing someone and those guys are in jail for a LONG time. However, I have clients who I feel have done things that are a lot less awful than Stallworth. That is not to condone their actions, but I'm just saying what Stallworth did was worse, he took a life. Think about the messege this sends when he gets 30 days simply because he could pay off the victim's family. This is very upsetting.
Furthermore, if I take off my lawyer hat and put my sports-fan hat, I am also outraged. First of all, my Cleveland Browns now have another issue to deal with. But even bigger than that is the aura that now exists in professional sports. For the last few years, people like David Stern and Roger Godell have worked hard at trying to clean up the sport and deal with problem players to send a messege. I believe Goddell's attitude comes as a stark contrast to Bud Selig and the lax attitude in baseball. But, like him or not, Goddell has worked hard to try to get players to clean up their acts. In my opinion, Goddell has made a positive impact on football, and maybe even on sports as a whole so far, and his legacy will continue to grow as time goes on.
Now while Goddell will come down hard on Stallworth, this 30 day sentence makes Goddell's job harder. So, I am disheartened that this judgment will take the wind out of Goddell's sails and the progress that has been achieved in the NFL.
Well, that's my rant, time for me to try to get people out of jail. Take care,
Laz