Donte’ Stallworth, a star NFL receiver for the Cleveland Browns, was charged Wednesday with DUI and vehicular manslaughter for his role in the death of a pedestrian in Miami on March 14, 2009. Stallworth’s automobile struck and killed a 59-year-old man who finished his construction work shift around 7:15 a.m., and was attempting to cross the street. Stallworth grew up in Sacramento and played football for Grant High School before accepting an athletic scholarship to the University of Tennessee.
The twenty-eight-year-old Stallworth was detained after the automobile-pedestrian accident and subjected to field sobriety testing. According to his blood test, Stallworth’s blood-alcohol level was .126, well above the .08 level allowed under Florida (and California) law.
“I hit the man lying in the road,” Stallworth told officers arriving to investigate the crash, according to the affidavit. One officer smelled alcohol on Stallworth’s breath and said that his eyes appeared bloodshot and watery. Stallworth has expressed public sympathy for the family of the victim.
If convicted of the manslaughter charge, Stallworth would face up to 15 years in prison.
“Whenever a deadly accident occurs and a driver is impaired, families suffer,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in a statement. “I can only repeat this message over and over: If you are going to drink, don’t drive.”
The statistics involving drunk driving are sobering. When looking at car accident fatalities, the leading cause is drunk driving, accounting for 40% of fatal car crashes. Thirty-three percent of fatal car accidents are due to reckless driving, and 30% are due to speeding. More often than not, car accidents are due to one driver’s negligence.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury attorney, Moseley Collins.