Tony Stewart - Should he be brought up on criminal charges?

[locoJoe]

What do you think?

[dMog]

NO...the guy he hit was a friggin bonehead to get out of his car at night wearing a black race suit and then walk onto a poorly lit dirt track and weave in and out of speeding race cars....how many speeding cars in that moment..not to mention the type of cars in that race are fully known in the racing world to have very poor visibility and very poor maneuverability

[AlexCross]

Watching the reply over and over, it really seems that he intentionally ran over him, basically he had a path, but when he got closer to the man that got out of the car, he basically changed his patch and just hit him directly. If he wouldn't had the intention to hit him, he would have hit the wall with the new trajectory and speed. Because he barely avoided it by decreasing the speed after he hit that guy.

I'm curious if it was a feud between those 2 before the race.

[totoymola]

The prosecution can charge him with whatever criminal charges they want, but that does not they will win a conviction.

Basically, they have to prove that the two major elements of a crime exist: actus rea, and mens rea.

Actus rea is physical part of the crime -- the actual crime committed by the defendant. In this case, the killing of Kevin Ward.

Mens rea is the mental part of the crime -- the defendant's state of mind during the commission of the crime. In ancient times, even if the physical part of the crime exist, the defendant is not guilty of a crime if he does not have a guilty mind. This is complicated stuff, it had evolved over time, and it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction

And then the prosecutor also needs to prove EACH AND EVERY element of the crime charged, BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.

But of course, the defendant can also raise several legal defenses.

I would love to see the prosecutor try to bring criminal charges against Tony Stewart, and I am very interested to know what charges they are going to bring, if ever.

From the video that I saw, I think it is going to be a tall task to win a legal battle against Tony Stewart, in criminal court or in civil court.

[dMog]

even a civil suit would not have hope of a win...the person killed is almost totally to blame himself for walking all over a race track with cars still moving...he did not just get out of his car and stand out of harms way ...he frigging ran around like a chicken with his head cut off weaving in and out of cras as they sped by him...why do you think nascar FINALLY mandated drivers staying inside their cars after crashes shortly after this death on the track

[totoymola]

even a civil suit would not have hope of a win...the person killed is almost totally to blame himself for walking all over a race track with cars still moving...he did not just get out of his car and stand out of harms way ...he frigging ran around like a chicken with his head cut off weaving in and out of cras as they sped by him...why do you think nascar FINALLY mandated drivers staying inside their cars after crashes shortly after this death on the track

Exactly. Tony Stewart can raise several affirmative defenses in a civil lawsuit. Contributory negligence, comparative negligence, assumption of risk, suicide, to name a few.

I'm pretty sure Stewart will argue in any litigation that Ward has no business stepping out of the vehicle and playing chicken with oncoming racecars while the race is underway. And as a direct and proximate result, Kevin Ward's own actions contributed hugely to the tragedy.

I only saw one video. But from what I saw, I still don't get what Jeff Ward was thinking when he stepped out of the vehicle and played chicken with the approaching racecars. What was he trying to do? What did he want? Was he trying to hitch a ride to the finish line? I can't really tell from the video that I saw. But for sure, his actions were risky, and appears suicidal.

[dMog]

there is also video on line of the field of view inside the cockpit of these types of cars... very hard to see even the race track and other cars in this type of race car... so a man dressed in black on ill lit race track with the driver having to lookout for other speeding cars would not likely even see or think he had to look for a man standing in way or for that matter an angry man running directly at his speeding car...

[FreeRyde]

Road rage!

[locoJoe]

Tony Stewart case sent to grand jury

-SNIP-

Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo said he made the decision to present the case to a grand jury after reviewing evidence collected by county sheriff's investigators.

Tantillo could have determined there was not enough evidence to support charges and dropped the case, but instead announced his decision more than a month after Stewart's car struck and killed Ward at a dirt-track race on Aug. 9.

-SNIP-

Source: ESPN.com

[dMog]

he won't even need a lawyer to defend this... even IF he happens to have done it on purpose...the only way to prove this in this particular tragedy is by a confession and that ain't gonna happen

[locoJoe]

Tony Stewart not charged in death of Kevin Ward Jr.

5:55 p.m. EDT September 24, 2014

Tony Stewart will not face criminal charges in Kevin Ward Jr.'s death, a grand jury in upstate New York decided.

The Ontario County District Attorney's office took the evidence in Stewart's case to a grand jury, which found there was no basis for criminal charges, D.A. Michael Tantillo announced Wednesday.

Tantillo said toxicology reports revealed that Ward was under the influence of marijuana at a high enough level to impair judgment.

Source: USAToday.com

[dMog]

bad enough getting behind the wheel of car driving in your local city to work o school or the grocery store when you are stoned...to do so in race car during race is just a shiity life choice to make

[locoJoe]

NBC analyst: Tony Stewart's involvement in NASCAR on-track squabbles could have legal implications

Tony Stewart played only a peripheral part in the controversial post-race entanglements of Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin in Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte, but NBC Sports legal analyst Jack Furlong suggested on Monday’s episode of NASCAR AMERICA that Stewart’s actions could have a significant impact on a possible civil suit against him.

Stewart was cleared by a grand jury last month of criminal charges stemming from the death of Kevin Ward Jr. in the Aug. 9 sprint car incident in New York in which Ward was struck by Stewart's car. However, the Ward family declared in a statement after the grand jury ruling that, "This matter is not at rest and we will pursue all remedies in fairness to Kevin," implying that they planned to bring civil litigation in the matter.

Furlong suggested that Stewart's actions on Saturday night in Charlotte, which included reversing into Keselowski's car after the Charlotte race, could help build a case that Stewart's penchant for recklessness played a role in Ward's death. "If I'm Tony's lawyer, I'm saying to him, 'Tony, run the other way – you cannot be in a confrontation, this could come back to haunt you,'" Furlong said.

vice president for competition of NASCAR; Robin Pemberton>

Using a vehicle as a weapon will not be tolerated.

Source: Racecar.com

[dMog]

yea sure ...their son was high on pot got out of his car dressed in black on track with not very good lighting....and ran all over a race track with speeding cars coming at him and then ran towards stewarts car...yes i can see how jury would find stewart 100% to blame....

[locoJoe]

I believe Stewart knew exactly where Ward was on the track. Thats why Stewart went hi on the yellow, so he could "buzz" Ward. Tony is a hot head :bag: and while I do not believe he meant to hit Ward, the fact is he did. IMO Tony Stewart killed Ward on accident but because of road racetrack rage.

@dMog I agree with you that Ward was not showing good judgement but it is still wrong to run over and kill someone; even if that someone is stoned and stupid.

If I were to have roadrage against someone out on the highway (even if they were stoned and wearing black and walking down the middle) which resulted in a death you can be damn sure I'd be in jail waiting to go to trial.

The key question in all this is did Stewart see Ward and deliberately "buzz" him. If he did he is guilty. I believe he did. But you know what they say about opinions! :YES:

[CODYQX4]

he won't even need a lawyer to defend this... even IF he happens to have done it on purpose...the only way to prove this in this particular tragedy is by a confession and that ain't gonna happen

Someone isn't very familiar with the US Civil Court system...

[dMog]

@locojoe...even in a civil court it will still have to proved Stewart buzzed him on purpose...combined with the other facts that the other guy was stoned running all over the track like a chicken with head cut off as race cars whizzed by....also combined with he fact that the race was not stopped and that the cars involved have very poor handling as well as even poorer visibility i just do not see any jury finding anything but the dead guy to be 95% responsible for his own death...but as you say...it is the USA and lawsuits can go either way...just as criminal cases(OJ Simpson) can

[totoymola]

Criminal cases are different from civil cases in a lot of ways. For one, the standard of proof in a criminal case is "beyond a reasonable doubt" where as in a civil case, most of the time it is only "preponderance of the evidence". That means 100% of the jury must find the defendant guilty in a criminal case, where as in a civil case, only 2/3 of the jury is required to return a guilty verdict. That said, it is a lot more difficult to win a conviction in a criminal case.

I already predicted that the possible criminal charges won't hold up in court. But now it is getting more interesting because the victim's family still wants to pursue civil actions against the defendant. They can try, and I would love to see them try bringing a civil action against the defendant (wrongful death lawsuit perhaps?). But I still don't think they have a good case. That toxicology report opens several more legal defenses for the defendant.