Jaywalking Could Get Stallworth off the Hook

When arguing about the American criminal justice system, I’m one of those people who will scream and yell that we put a lot of people in jail for a lot of really dumb things in the United States. (Seriously, we’ve incarcerated more people than any society, well, ever.) But DUI manslaughter is one that I’m OK with tossing someone in jail to think about it for quite a while.↵↵DUI’s are inherently stupid for the average Joe, but when it comes to athletes with means, there’s no reason to not take a cab and play it safe. Instead, we end up with situations like Donte Stallworth, and the news today from Yahoo! is more than a little unsettling:↵

↵↵⇥According to Florida’s DUI manslaughter law, there are exceptions under what is called “causation” of an accident. In short, someone who is driving drunk and causes an accident is not necessarily responsible if the other party did something to contribute to the accident. ...↵⇥↵⇥In this case, (Mario) Reyes allegedly was jaywalking at the time he was hit and killed by Stallworth. If Reyes was jaywalking, it could be argued he contributed to the accident. In addition, Stallworth claimed to have flashed his lights and honked his horn at Reyes, which is being interpreted by Stallworth’s side as a way of warning Reyes to get out of the way.↵⇥

↵↵↵I’m not trying to get all MADD-type preachy here, but the fact remains that just because someone jaywalks doesn’t mean a driver should be excused of the fact that they were intoxicated.↵

↵↵I’d argue, for example, that someone who wasn’t under the influence might not have functioned like an 8-year-old child operating under the “I’m coming your way and if you don’t get out of the way it’s your fault” school of logic. A clear-thinking, sober adult might have even thought to, I don’t know, STOP, rather than running down a person who didn’t respond to flashing headlights.↵

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