Cowboys .. NT Manslaughter

[False Start]

Originally Posted by GP

Where is Bob Costas when we need him, to put a little perspective on this tragedy?

At a gun control rally.

This is sad. I never have and never will drive intoxicated... on anything.

[thunderkyss]

I wonder if anyone has ever looked to see how many similar cases included a previous DUI

[CloakNNNdagger]

Found this piece that chronicles his past. Problems have followed him to the Supplemental Draft........and beyond.

9:42PM EST December 8. 2012 - Josh Brent didn't enter the NFL's supplemental draft in 2010 because he had made the most of his three years at the University of Illinois and was ready to turn pro. He did it because a series of off-field and academic problems had exhausted every other option.

"Most definitely, it's a second chance," Brent said at the time to The Pantagraph of Bloomington, Ill., before being picked by the Dallas Cowboys and eventually making the team.

"I just talked to Josh's agent a few weeks ago to see how he was doing, and really he had settled down and wasn't going out, not living an extravagant life and was just enjoying the NFL," former Illinois coach Ron Zook told USA TODAY Sports. "He was mentoring Jerry, even though Jerry's older, and trying to help him make it in the league."

Though much of the focus in the accident's aftermath has been on Brent's 2009 DUI charge, for which he served 30 days in jail, it was just one roadblock in a long, often winding path to the NFL. The only child of a single mother, Brent landed in Bloomington, Ill., at age 5 when his mother, LaTosha Brent, fled an abusive relationship. She was just 16 when Brent was born.

Though he excelled in three sports – football, basketball and track – Brent often had little supervision because his mother worked long hours to pay the bills. When she was no longer able to work because of health issues, she moved out of town to live with her mother. Brent, meanwhile, was taken in during his senior year of high school by Isy Hoomanawanui, an assistant coach on the football team, whose son Michael (now a tight end for the New England Patriots) became Brent's best friend and eventually his teammate at Illinois.

"I talked to him earlier today, and he's in tears," Brit Miller, a former Illinois teammate and current St. Louis Rams fullback, said of Michael Hoomanawanui. "Hawaiians don't cry. He feels for his brother. Everyone makes dumb decisions, and it seems Josh keeps paying for his with the highest and worst price."

As an Illinois sophomore in 2008, Brent missed two games for what the team had termed an illness, but Zook's refusal to answer questions about it at the time – "I'd rather you not ask me about Josh. … I'm not in any position to be able to talk about it," he told reporters – led to rampant fan speculation that there was a discipline problem.

Zook says he does not remember that particular incident but emphasized he would not have covered for Brent if he had been suspended.

"He didn't have a lot of problems at Illinois," Zook says. "He had one major mistake (the DUI) that he made. He was at a party, and a girl was there that was drunk. And he was worried about her getting home and trying to take care of her. He got caught and paid dearly for it. I had to discipline him and the university disciplined him, but he came back and did the things he had to do. He wasn't a problem at all. They weren't angels, but I wasn't either."

Brent was slated to come back for what many thought would be an all-Big Ten season in 2010, but he did not meet academic-eligibility requirements. When an attempt to get him eligible through a junior college failed, he entered the supplemental draft.

"You're able to sit back and look at your mistakes and realize why they were mistakes," he told The Pantagraph. "You're able to fully comprehend and understand where the mistakes were made, and not just finding where to place the blame."

Zook said Brent was "a smart kid" who lacked the focus and discipline to do his academic work.

"Him and Jerry both, you had to stay on them constantly to do the things you needed them to do (academically)," Zook said. "But they don't have the corner on that market."

link

[CloakNNNdagger]

The investigator said it appeared the car skidded, hit the curb, swerved back into the middle lane, then spun off the road, driver's side first. The car flipped several times, bouncing along the grassy embankment as it tumbled, before coming to rest upside down in the roadway after traveling nearly 300 yards, the investigator said.

link

[CloakNNNdagger]

The Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle, facing DUI manslaughter charges as the driver in the single-vehicle crash in Irving, Texas, early Saturday morning that resulted in the death of his close friend and teammate, acknowledged as much in a statement released through his agent on Saturday night.

"I am devastated and filled with grief," Brent said in the statement. "Filled with grief for the loss of my close friend and teammate, Jerry Brown. I am also grief-stricken for his family, friends and all who were blessed enough to have known him.

link

[eriadoc]

Everyone has been told not to drink and drive. He did it willfully, not ignorantly. When you decide to take a drink and do not give up your keys, you are making a conscious decision to increase the risk of someone losing their life. Unfortunately, it's perfectly legal to drink and drive in this country. It's just not legal to drink beyond a certain point and drive. We leave the decision making of whether or not one is impaired to the person who is impaired. It's fkn BRILLIANT.

I feel terrible for the guy riding with him. If anyone needed another example of why you don't ride with someone who has been drinking, this is it.

[Texan_Bill]

I'm an abashed Cowboy hater.... That said this is really sad!

I also think CAK brings up a really good point about field sobriety reports v. actual toxiciology reports... Interesting? Yes!

Sad nonetheless.........

[Showtime100]

Terrible news. I don't know anything about the kid, but this whole thing is clearly a dumb, stupid, tragic mistake. Condolences to the Cowboys, but much more to his family and friends.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Everyone has been told not to drink and drive. He did it willfully, not ignorantly. When you decide to take a drink and do not give up your keys, you are making a conscious decision to increase the risk of someone losing their life. Unfortunately, it's perfectly legal to drink and drive in this country. It's just not legal to drink beyond a certain point and drive. We leave the decision making of whether or not one is impaired to the person who is impaired. It's fkn BRILLIANT.

I feel terrible for the guy riding with him. If anyone needed another example of why you don't ride with someone who has been drinking, this is it.

I hear ya. I don't think the punishment is steep enough for DUI, as been mentioned earlier, this isn't the first time this guys judgement has been questionable.

However, the second statement.... what was he thinking?

Should we be thinking of him as a victim here?

[IDEXAN]

Some sleaze-bag lawyer will probably get this guys sentence reduced to a fine and probation, i.e., no jail-time. And that's already been done before as he has reportedly been busted atleast once in the past for drinkin' & driven'.
****************************************
The arrest for intoxication manslaughter was not the first time Josh Brent has been charged with drinking and driving.

The Cowboys nose tackle, who was arrested Saturday morning after a one-car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown also had a drunken driving arrest in Illinois when he was in college.

In June 2009, he was sentenced to two years probation and 60 days in jail as part of a plea deal from a March 2009 DUI arrest in Champaign County, Illinois.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...st-in-college/

[ArlingtonTexan]

Originally Posted by IDEXAN

Some sleaze-bag lawyer will probably get this guys sentence reduced to a fine and probation, i.e., no jail-time. And that's already been done before as he has reportedly been busted atleast once in the past for drinkin' & driven'.
****************************************
The arrest for intoxication manslaughter was not the first time Josh Brent has been charged with drinking and driving.

The Cowboys nose tackle, who was arrested Saturday morning after a one-car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown also had a drunken driving arrest in Illinois when he was in college.

In June 2009, he was sentenced to two years probation and 60 days in jail as part of a plea deal from a March 2009 DUI arrest in Champaign County, Illinois.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...st-in-college/

The minimium sentence is supposed to range from 2 to 20 years for intoxication manslaughter

[Malloy]

I love to drink, and I love to drive, but I never mix the two...

Tragic indeed... for all involved.

[Malloy]

Found this post card made by the Danish agency for traffic safety, it always 'sobers' me up.

[edit] Farlig = dangerous

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Not saying he wasn't drunk but they better have gotten a blood or breath test because a field sobriety test after rolling a car and seeing your buddy dead is going to get torn apart.

As per the Nicole "Lilly" Lalime Act (posted previously http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/sho...4&postcount=15, which permits the police to take MADATORY blood draws without a warrant in these situations:

“Officers at the scene believed alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash; therefore, Price-Brent was asked to perform field sobriety tests. Based on the results of the tests, along with the officer’s observations and conversations with Price-Brent, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was transported to an area hospital for a mandatory blood draw. Once it was learned that the passenger of his vehicle had died as a result of the crash, Price-Brent was booked into the Irving City Jail on one count of intoxication manslaughter.” ~ statement from the Irving Police Department.

Evidently, a more extensive history related to driving responsibility issues:

This is not the first incident of drunk driving with Dallas Cowboys Josh Brent. On February 21, 2009, he was stopped by a police officer in Urbana, Illinois. He wasn’t a Dallas Cowboy then, but a defensive tackle for the Illinois Illini. At the time of his detainment, he was driving on a suspended license. There was also a warrant issued for him for failing to appear in court for a previous act of driving under suspended license. On June 2, 2009, Brent plead guilty to a misdemeanor DUI. He was sentenced to two years probation and 60 days in jail. He also paid a fine and completed 200 hours of community service.

link


Not mentioned previously by most media..........SPEEDING also accompanied his previous DUI:

Brent pleaded guilty to a DUI charge in 2009 after he was arrested for speeding while driving under the influence with a suspended license, according to Champaign County, Ill., court records obtained by The Associated Press.

link

[IDEXAN]

Originally Posted by ArlingtonTexan

The minimium sentence is supposed to range from 2 to 20 years for intoxication manslaughter

NP, some slicker will just get the charges reduced. This clown will be out driving around drunk again in no time at all.

[Specnatz]

Originally Posted by IDEXAN

Some sleaze-bag lawyer will probably get this guys sentence reduced to a fine and probation, i.e., no jail-time. And that's already been done before as he has reportedly been busted atleast once in the past for drinkin' & driven'.
****************************************
The arrest for intoxication manslaughter was not the first time Josh Brent has been charged with drinking and driving.

The Cowboys nose tackle, who was arrested Saturday morning after a one-car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown also had a drunken driving arrest in Illinois when he was in college.

In June 2009, he was sentenced to two years probation and 60 days in jail as part of a plea deal from a March 2009 DUI arrest in Champaign County, Illinois.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...st-in-college/

Originally Posted by IDEXAN

NP, some slicker will just get the charges reduced. This clown will be out driving around drunk again in no time at all.

You really do not understand the laws in Texas. There is two things Texas does not fck with. One is DUI, yes the first is usually is a fine and probation which I am fine with. But I have seen on the news guys getting 27 years for intoxicated manslaughter. He will do time, how much will be up to a plea bargain. If you think a DA will just let a slam dunk case (if the blood taken shows he was drunk and how much by is a huge factor) just go, you do not know politics.

The other thing in Texas that the law does not mess with is domestic violence. the first is a misdemeanor and the second is a felony in most cases. I know this because my brother is a police officer and we have had conversations regarding this.

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by Specnatz

You really do not understand the laws in Texas. There is two things Texas does not fck with. One is DUI, yes the first is usually is a fine and probation which I am fine with. But I have seen on the news guys getting 27 years for intoxicated manslaughter. He will do time, how much will be up to a plea bargain. If you think a DA will just let a slam dunk case (if the blood taken shows he was drunk and how much by is a huge factor) just go, you do not know politics.

Both my parents were killed here in TX by a drunk driver. It was the offender's 4th time being caught. He had a revoked license and had never served time. His BAC, as measured by a blood draw 3 hours after the incident, was .30. For killing two people, he served 11 years.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Both my parents were killed here in TX by a drunk driver. It was the offender's 4th time being caught. He had a revoked license and had never served time. His BAC, as measured by a blood draw 3 hours after the incident, was .30. For killing two people, he served 11 years.

Which no offense to your personal situation proves Spec's point. You understandably wanted to see more jail time but Spec was refuting IDEXAN''s assertion this guy would get no jail time at all.

Also times change. Things were looser 20 years ago than they are now.

[Specnatz]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Both my parents were killed here in TX by a drunk driver. It was the offender's 4th time being caught. He had a revoked license and had never served time. His BAC, as measured by a blood draw 3 hours after the incident, was .30. For killing two people, he served 11 years.

Eriadoc, I am deeply sorry for your loss. My brother whom I never knew (Dads first marriage) was killed by a drunk driver and never served a day. Times have changed and I can only go by what I have read and talked to my brother about. Jail time for this has increased exponentially in the last 7 yrs.

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Which no offense to your personal situation proves Spec's point. You understandably wanted to see more jail time but Spec was refuting IDEXAN''s assertion this guy would get no jail time at all.

Also times change. Things were looser 20 years ago than they are now.

I related my story more to point out the fact that it was the offender's 4th time being caught and he had never previously served time. He made the assertion that TX was tough on DUI. I kind of dispute that. Sure, if someone is killed, they'll jail the guy. But if not, the offender is basically put back out on the road until he does kill someone. As for things being tougher now, I hope so. Next April will be the 15 year anniversary.