Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth was able to cop a plea agreement that will require him to serve only 30 days in prison for DUI Manslaughter. I had so many thoughts running through my mind when I heard the news, but me being the journalist that I am, I will attempt to look at both sides.
The first thing that most people will point to is the fact that how can Michael Vick serve 2 years in jail for fighting dogs, yet Donte' Stallworth is only going to do 30 days in jail for driving under the influence, and striking and killing 59 year old Mario Reyes.
Reyes had just gotten off work, and was trying to cross the street to catch a bus, when he was struck by Stallworth who police say was driving 50 mph in a 40 mph zone.
By giving Stallworth such a weak jail sentence, it sends out the message that a human life is not that important. Matter of fact, it lets me know that a dog's life might very well be more important than a humans life.
You see how quick Peta was out there to protest at Michael Vick's trial. Do you think they would have cared that Donte' Stallworth hit and killed a man while driving under the influence? I doubt it. Me and D'Angelo had a conversation about this a while back, and I pointed out to him how people have been so in love with dogs since the days of Benji and Old Yeller. Heck, a lady even left $30 million to her dog in a Will a couple of years back.
I know I got a lil off topic, but those things needed to be said. Right now, our justice system is making it known that they value a dog's life more than a human's. I'm not trying to say that a dog's life is not important, but come on, 30 days for DUI Manslaughter? I can understand if he wasn't under the influence, but Stallworth had a blood alcohol level of .126 after the crash, which is well above Florida's legal limit of .08.
Now, the major difference in Stallworth's case and Vick's case is that Michael Vick lied to the feds about his involvement with dog fighting, and Donte' Stallworth was fully cooperative after the accident. He even stayed on the scene after the accident and waited for investigators to arrive.
On top of the 30 day jail sentence, Stallworth will have a lifetime suspension of his drivers license, meaning, he better have some really nice friends, or he'll need to learn the Bus routes in Cleveland. Also, he must serve 2 years of house arrest, 8 years on probation, and perform 1,000 hours of community service.
Finally, the main point in all of this is the victim's family. They reached an out of court settlement with Stallworth for an undisclosed amount of money, and are said to be glad that this whole matter is over with because they wanted the case resolved to avoid any more pain, which is understandable.
Although, I am still mad at our justice system because of many other cases involving injustice; it's hard for me to have the same disdain for a person who committed a crime, when victim's family have come to a settlement and found it in their hearts to forgive those involved.
I cannot be mad at Donte' Stallworth for having a good lawyer, who was able to get him only 30 days of jail time because if I was put in his situation, I would want to do as little jail time as possible too. I don't think anyone in their right mind would turn down a 30 day jail sentence when they are looking at 15 years if convicted; so, I can't blame him in this instance.
The only thing that I can blame is our society and a justice system that shows me if you have enough money to buy a good lawyer, you can make your legal woes go away or minimize the actual amout of jail time that you deserve, as we have seen with R. Kelly, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Plaxico Burress, T.I. etc... and now Donte' Stallworth.
