Tony Stewart Case Goes to Grand Jury

[Danno]

By Jeff Gluck, USA Today

"The cloud over Tony Stewart will remain for the immediate future after the Ontario County (N.Y.) District Attorney said Tuesday he would take the question of Stewart's involvement in the death of Kevin Ward Jr. to a grand jury.

Stewart struck and killed Ward, 20, during an Aug. 9 sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York and has been under investigation since.

Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero turned the case over to D.A. Michael Tantillo last week, and Tantillo has decided to let a grand jury decide whether criminal charges will be brought.

'Upon my review of all of the information contained in the entire investigation, I have made the determination that it would be appropriate to submit the evidence to a grand jury, for their determination as to what action should be taken in this matter,' Tantillo said in a statement. 'Accordingly, the evidence developed in the investigation will be presented to an Ontario County grand jury in the near future.' "

[slusher]

I thought the matter was all done with. The video was not real good.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

I think they're going to rule for Tony.

Ward got OUT OF HIS CAR on the track, which, though I am not a racing driver, I know is not allowed. From what I saw on the videos, it didn't look like Tony purposefully hit him.

[Jantrix]

I'm just glad that this is getting a no-stone-unturned approach so that everyone is satisfied with the actions taken by law enforcement.

[johnbuzzed]

The kid got out of his car and walked into oncoming traffic, into the path of a car being driven at speed. Duh. Didn't his parents teach him to not do that?

[Greg Myers]

It will be tried in a court with Non- racing/automotive people.

[Longbox55]

From what I understand, the jury of 23 are going to be selected from people from Ontario County, which doesn't have a very large population to begin with (somewhere north of 10,000 from what I saw). With as big as dirt racing is in the area, it's going to be hard to get a jury that doesn't have at least a few in there that isn't into racing, be it a fan or directly involved. The real trick is going to be to find jurors that are neutral in the situation, that can give a verdict based only on facts, and not on any sort of preconceived bias or local loyalties.

[freakshow12]

I never liked tony and his temper anyway. His long past of freak outs does not help him here. I think there is a shared blame in this case

[freakshow12]

I never liked tony and his temper anyway. His long past of freak outs does not help him here. I think there is a shared blame in this case

[Matt T.]

From what I understand, the jury of 23 are going to be selected from people from Ontario County, which doesn't have a very large population to begin with (somewhere north of 10,000 from what I saw). With as big as dirt racing is in the area, it's going to be hard to get a jury that doesn't have at least a few in there that isn't into racing, be it a fan or directly involved. The real trick is going to be to find jurors that are neutral in the situation, that can give a verdict based only on facts, and not on any sort of preconceived bias or local loyalties.

And just 12 of them (majority) need to believe that Tony has some negligence here - manslaughter, etc. Yikes.

[johnbuzzed]

Allow me to reiterate...

The kid got out of his car and walked into oncoming traffic, into the path of a car being driven at speed. Duh. Didn't his parents teach him to not do that?

My childhood home was on a very busy intersection. There were traffic control devices all over and the speed limit was maybe 40MPH. I was allowed to cross the streets only after my parents knew that I would do so when it was safe- i.e., no oncoming traffic. I learned to do so by crossing with them and paying attention. It worked for me and so many of my young friends. Perhaps, this young man's parents should have instilled such cautionary advice into him, especially when they realized that he wanted to drive fast cars on a track with a lot of other people who were also driving fast cars. His irresponsible behavior got himself killed; it's possible that it might have cost more lives if the situation was even slightly different.

[PlasticWagens]

He will not get a fair trial as opinions and a non understanding of the racing environment will be a large determining factor with the outcome.

My question is this, if the 2 were battling in a race and Stewart crashed him and Ward died, would there still be legal actions? To me the answer is no and this situation should be treated the same.

I am neutral in this situation, but do not feel there should be legal implications for actions on a race course.

[cartpix]

At every photographers meeting, at every track, I shot, there was one hard, fast rule, Do not, under any circumstances, set foot, on a hot track. It isn't a good idea to go out, on a cold track, as there are still safety cars & equipment, on the track. As for Stewart's incident, it was much darker, than it looked, Sprint cars are hard to see out of, in the best of conditions, & he was going about 60 MPH. It's like going down a poorly lit road, at 60, & someone walks out, in front of you.

Jeff

[Danno]

I think they're going to rule for Tony.

Ward got OUT OF HIS CAR on the track, which, though I am not a racing driver, I know is not allowed. From what I saw on the videos, it didn't look like Tony purposefully hit him.

Purely not true. First of all, there was ~ at that time ~ no rule against drivers getting out of wrecked or immobile cars. Secondly, even though he was on the track (which a LOT of drivers have done, including Tony Stewart himself), it does not make him fair game for getting hit or run over.

Stewart may not have deliberately hit Ward, but there are other considerations such as recklessness, carelessness, negligence, endangerment, etc., against which Stewart's conduct will be evaluated against.

I don't think Stewart deliberately injured or killed Ward, but if he wanted to 'buzz' Ward to show him who was who, he may have shown such indifference to the potential consequences for his actions that it may rise to the level of a misdemeanor crime. I don't know, and I'm glad I'm not on that grand jury.

[Danno]

At every photographers meeting, at every track, I shot, there was one hard, fast rule, Do not, under any circumstances, set foot, on a hot track. It isn't a good idea to go out, on a cold track, as there are still safety cars & equipment, on the track. As for Stewart's incident, it was much darker, than it looked, Sprint cars are hard to see out of, in the best of conditions, & he was going about 60 MPH. It's like going down a poorly lit road, at 60, & someone walks out, in front of you.

Jeff

If he was going 60, that could present another problem for him. I understood they were under full-track yellow flag caution and that track had a 25 mph limit for travel under cautions.

[DonW]

If he was going 60, that could present another problem for him. I understood they were under full-track yellow flag caution and that track had a 25 mph limit for travel under cautions.

It looked like all the cars were going a lot faster than that, also Stewart was very close behind another car.

[Superpeterbilt]

If I can throw my opinion in here, I have no prior opinion of Tony Stewart. I literally know nothing about the guy, and I dont really need to. Its clear that a lot of people want to see him crucified, but the fact is Kevin Wards own stupidity is what got him killed. He got out of the car because he was mad and wanted to show everyone that he was mad. He climbed out to confront a moving race car. This kid is clearly an idiot, with a bad temper. Everyone keeps talking about Tonys temper, what about Kevins? He wasnt trying to get to safety, he was looking for a fight and he got killed. Stupidity. I feel bad for his parents, but they should have tought him to control himself.

[Longbox55]

I've read that the caution speed at that track is anywhere between 25 to 40 mph, with 35 being the most reported speed. In the one video that has been seen in its assorted edits, the camera isn't very stable, and zooms in and out. That does give an illusion that the cars are not running the same speed.

[johnbuzzed]

An immature, irresponsible kid walked onto a race track while the cars were still moving on the track... And this is Tony Stewart's fault how?

[chunkypeanutbutter]

An immature, irresponsible kid walked onto a race track while the cars were still moving on the track... And this is Tony Stewart's fault how?

Exactly! It's common sense, innit?

[johnbuzzed]

Apparently, not for some.

[High octane]

It's "just racing."

[southpier]

Darwin. like in Thunderdome without the chainsaws.

[johnbuzzed]

What would happen if, during a NFL game, a player with a known "temper" tackled a rival player and caused that person's death? Would it be "just football", or would there be a criminal investigation because of previously heard trash talk?

[High octane]

There's a BIG difference between racing and football. In fact racing takes two balls.