Posted on 09/24/2014 12:13:11 PM PDT by C19fan
NASCAR champion Tony Stewart will reportedly not face charges in the death of fellow driver driver Kevin Ward Jr. Ward was hit and killed in a horrifying crash that was caught on film last month, but a grand jury decided today that they will not bring up charges against Stewart,TMZ reports. The case was handed to a grand jury earlier this month by Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo, who made the decision to present the case after reviewing evidence of the tragic crash. Ward was fatally struck by Stewart while getting out of his car to confront the racing veteran, after the two collided on a prior lap at a race on August 9. Tantillo is expected to release a statement on the ruling at 3pm.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“More worrisome, they all said they felt no effects of the drug.” (Including the guy that missed the runway altogether).
This a quote from the press release.
The grand jury has completed its investigation. During the course of the grand jury presentation, approximately two dozen witnesses testified. These included a number of race car drivers, racetrack employees and volunteers, two accident reconstruction experts, medical personnel, and a number of police officers. In addition, the grand jury reviewed a number of photographs and video recordings, as well as other documentary evidence.
This is from the DVR of the press conference I have of the DA saying how the videos were processed by the Investigators and the GJ Members.
2 different videos the one from the .net and one from the Track Cameras were slowed down to 25,50 and 75% speeds and overlaid with a grid to check the detailed movements of the scene. They also did frame by frame the same way. Stewart's car did not change direction UNTIL Kevin Ward was run over by the RR tire.
Those are the words of the DA- not Mine.
BTW My offer of sending a copy of the video is still out there.
On the threads right after it happened some people were talking about how one doesn't really “steer” these sprint cars, but use the pedal, skidding, etc. to maneuver them. Or something like that. But their point was it is not like driving a regular car, and goes against what we normally experience and see in driving our cars.
How long did it take for these 3 bozos to walk into the Interstate???
Unfortunately, some people just don’t care about any of that.
It is clear from the initial video that Stewart did not drive toward Ward, that Ward in fact walked towards him.
But some people were so eager to convict him they ignored the evidence right in front of their eyes and so reluctant to admit they were wrong that they will continue to insist that Stewart drove towards him even though a grand jury fund differently. A group of people that studied that video and other evidence in depth somehow knows less about what happened than those who continue to condemn Stewart.
Welcome.
Yes a USAC Sprint Car is kinda like keeping control of a 800 HP Top, it want’s to spin and the Driver uses the gas pedal and steering along with the Cushion (the berm of dirt around the outside of the track surface) and track condition to point in the right direction.
The RR tire is WAY wider and larger diameter than the LR is, the front tires usually has only one (RF) of them on the track.
Also the right side of the cockpit has a panel to block the flying mud/dirt from hitting the Driver on the side of the helmet so the vision on the right is poor at best.
Yes, facts be damned- GET A ROPE!
What surprises Me is the number of people on FR that want to hang Tony even though the Facts have been right in front of them on the screen.
Experts would expect Stewart to settle: #14-Tony Stewart won't face criminal charges in the death of Kevin Ward Jr., and now it's likely up to Stewart whether the case ever returns to court. Stewart not being charged criminally, plus the fact that Ward had marijuana in his system at the time of his death, could mean that a civil suit is less likely. But the standards in civil cases don't match the criminal side, and New York law forces juries to determine a percentage of fault for each party in a wrongful death case, which means that Stewart could have incentive to settle. The Ward family has indicated that it will pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the three-time Cup champion. Stewart could settle any case out of court by writing a check to the Ward family with the amount kept confidential. Or he could fight in court over whether he was negligent at all in the death of the 20-year-old driver, who walked out onto the track and was struck by Stewart's sprint car under caution Aug. 9 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park.
Greg Bloom, an attorney at the Miami firm Chase Lawyers who represents athletes and entertainers, said he would advise Stewart to settle, even though he believes it was an accident. "I think he will end up settling," Bloom said. "If I was to advise him, I would advise the same because he wants everything to be behind him. Everyone wants this whole story to be behind him, so he can move forward professionally and the memory of the deceased can rest."
John M. Hochfelder, a New York lawyer who runs a blog and database on injury case damages in New York, said it is not uncommon for someone who is not indicted or is acquitted of criminal charges to face a wrongful death lawsuit. "All the (criminal) acquittal means is that the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt, according to the jury, that a crime was committed," Hochfelder said. "That standard is much, much higher than the civil standard, which is a preponderance of the evidence, a tipping of the scales. We call it 'the more likely than not' standard. ... (In this case), it's more likely than not that you should have been more careful and your lack of care, we conclude, caused an injury."
Michael McCann, a Massachusetts attorney who founded the University of New Hampshire's Sports and Entertainment Law Institute and also writes for SI.com, said because Stewart has a stake in preserving his reputation in order to earn sponsorship to race, he has incentive to settle this as soon as possible. "The likelihood that Tony Stewart reaches an adequate settlement is very high," McCann said. "He has reason to settle a case like this even if he believes he did nothing wrong."(Sporting News)(9-27-2014)
NO! NO! NO!This is wrong! Tony Stewart has been cleared of Criminal Charges. If He "pays" them off then He admits guilt "legally". He may feel guilty in the Human way but those are two different things. If The Ward Family gets any $$$ out of this then they are nothing more than sleazy money grubbers ADMITTING that there is a "price" on Kevin Ward Jr. being stupid for walking into the path of a car. (Just MY PERSONAL opinion)
I guess the dumb kid just committed suicide.
...”Ward was fatally struck by Stewart while getting out of his car to confront the racing veteran”....
Let’s remember this was on the track with the race in progress....not a good idea to settle differences by getting out of your car and walking into oncoming race car drivers flying around the track!
This was cut and dried from the get go...never should have gone to grand jury .
I saw the entire video....Ward was a fool for stepping out into a “hot” race..drugged or not...history of being a hot head himself didn’t help his judgement.
actually it’s age 25...
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