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DUI Manslaughter Charges for NFL Player

By Eddie Farah

His Bentley was the car that hit a pedestrian crossing a Miami causeway. There is no dispute about that. The question that lingered concerned the outcome of a blood alcohol test.

Now that's back and now Cleveland Browns wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, is facing DUI manslaughter charges.

Stallworth, 28, could face up to 15 years in prison.

It was early in the morning of March 14th when Stallworths' blood-alcohol measured .126. He hit and killed Mario Reyes, 59, as Reyes tried to catch a bus home from his construction job.

Technically, Reyes was outside of the crosswalk, so technically Stallworth might have had some argument with the law.

The NFL player had been drinking at the Fountainbleu Hotel on South Beach according to a police affidavit filed Wednesday, reports NBC sports.

Stallworth saw Reyes. He blinked his lights at him in a warning. He was also driving about 50 in a 40 mph zone. The only things he has going for him here is that he stopped and told police that he hit the man lying in the road.

But Florida has a set legal limit of intoxication at .08. That adds a DUI charge which only can keep someone in jail for about six months along with fines and community service. That's the rather light sentence for first time offenders tht Florida is famous for handing out.

Stallworth had just signed a seven-year $35 million contract with the Browns just before he was injured and sat out much of the year.

A loss of life, a loss of a career potentially, and certainly a loss of money.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney says it best and it bears repeating, 'If you are going to drink, don't drive.'

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on April 01, 2009 (boomark / email).