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62 Comments
- ProjectGSX, on 07/01/2009, -0/+28Ill save my negative comments. Dude killed one of his friends.. thats about as bad as it gets.
- eatsushi, on 07/01/2009, -4/+3130 days for killing one and injuring 2 others??? Must be nice to be a superstar.
- WSPanic201, on 07/01/2009, -2/+19I smoked pot and got 20 days, he ends a life and gets 30. *****.
- inactive, on 07/01/2009, -1/+11I'm pretty sure most will complain about it, but it's not an uncommon sentence or anything.
Plus the dude accidentally killed his friend. That's almost punishment enough. - sneakyness, on 07/01/2009, -7/+1730 days in jail for killing a friend and injuring two others?
30 days?
You can go to jail longer than that for speeding tickets.
I'm satisfied knowing that he knows he got off easy and that he'll hate himself for the rest of his life. If anybody ever runs into him in public, be sure to remind him that he killed his friend. Don't fight back either once he starts punching. - mikesorrentino, on 07/01/2009, -1/+7Michael Vick gets years in prison for extreme animal abuse and the funding of such abuse, and JR Smith gets 30 days for KILLING A HUMAN BEING?!
- inactive, on 07/01/2009, -1/+6If he has any type of conscious this is going to haunt him for the rest of his life.
- deff, on 07/01/2009, -0/+5A guy I knew back in the day was driving with his mother and two brothers. His mom went to pass a car in front of them and hit a car coming the opposite way head on, killing one of his brothers and injuring the other driver. His mother got 3 years in jail.
- chronopublish, on 07/01/2009, -2/+7Caused by reckless driving.
- bicyclethief, on 07/01/2009, -0/+4I'd imagine being the mom or other family of his friend is worse.
- roxgod666, on 07/01/2009, -0/+4Who?
- ceredron, on 07/01/2009, -4/+8I love all these people complaining about star treatment.
Dante Stallworth, after killing a drunk man who stumbled onto the street while drunk himself, stopped his car, turned himself in, and made a private settlement with the family, along with nothing but apologies. Yeah, he definitely deserved way more than he got (he was expelled from the NFL too). What?
JR Smith killed his friend driving recklessly. His fault. His death will be on JR's hands, and all you backseat judges just complain about how much time he isn't getting? It's a first time offense, what looked to be a reckless driving accident. A mistake, while joyriding with his buddies, and now one is dead. Seriously, the gall of some people. You don't get sentenced very much in most cases when you punish yourself, and all people complain about here is "star treatment". *****, a kid I knew drunk drove his girlfriend into a wall on prom night a couple years back, and the judge figured a very light sentence and community service was enough because he had ***** killed somebody he loved. What more do you haters want, huh? It's common practice to put light sentences on those who clearly ***** themselves over in accidents. - flyingsquirle, on 07/01/2009, -1/+5Gotta love America
- nickbr00tality, on 07/01/2009, -1/+4I agree.
- neoq36, on 07/01/2009, -1/+4Note to self:
DO NOT ride in a vehicle when a professional athlete is driving, because they can kill you and get away with it. - pLuhhmm, on 07/01/2009, -4/+7Im glad the law is allowed to be bent so easily the more money you have. 1st Donte Stallworth now this guy. This countries laws need to be redone so everyone is given a FAIR trial and it doesnt matter if you have million dollar lawyers or the court appointed one. But it wont because money talks and people will give reasons that make no sense and have nothing to do with the subject, basically what Fox News does with everything.
You can digg me down if you want, but its the truth and these situations happen time and time again. If you can take a life and only get 30 days something is wrong plain and simple. - hughesj919, on 07/01/2009, -2/+5Dupe...er, oh wait...that was Donte Stallworth.
- rgranger, on 07/01/2009, -0/+3i forgot... only the law can punish.
- pLuhhmm, on 07/01/2009, -3/+5No, he'll drink again. If he really was his friend he wouldnt have driven drunk in the first place. People like this have enough money to hire their own limo driver, why not actually use it.
- zadadka, on 07/01/2009, -1/+3Conscience.
- saranagati, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2where does it say he was drunk?
- marytormey, on 07/01/2009, -4/+6Why bother severely punishing someone who killed his friend in a drunk driving accident? This man will never drive drunk again. The drunk drivers that need to be punished severely are the ones who haven't killed anyone yet.
- inactive, on 07/01/2009, -1/+3Not necessarily.
- forceuser, on 07/01/2009, -1/+3It was an accident.
- inactive, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2Wow I'm an idiot. Thanks for the correction.
- Chupacabraz, on 07/01/2009, -2/+4I'll take that bet. Odds are that he WILL drive drunk again, maybe not right away but eventually he will.
- milkmage, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1drunk?
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith was sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to reckless driving in an accident that killed a friend and injured two other people, a court official said.
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Judge Debra Gelson of the Millstone Municipal Court in New Jersey sentenced Smith to 90 days with 60 days suspended on Tuesday and ordered him to perform 500 hours of community service with sick children in hospitals, the official said.
Smith, 23, who is in the off-season, averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game as a part-time starter. He played in 81 of the Nuggets' 82 games in the 2008-09 season, his fifth in the NBA.
The accident in June 2007 killed Smith's friend, Andre Bell, 21, after Smith drove through a stop sign and collided with another car. Smith, another passenger in his car and a woman driving the other car were injured.
"We will continue to support J.R. during this difficult period and will have no further comment at this time," Mark Warkentien, the Nuggets vice president of basketball operations, said in a statement. - milkmage, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1he ran a stop sign. that's all. he wasn't DUI.
30 days for a legitimate accident seems fair. - gameforge, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1I found a better article:
http://www.app.com/article/20090630/NEWS/90701002/ ...
He ran a stop sign in June of 2007 because he was going too fast to stop and collided with a car on the crossing street. His SUV rolled and ejected him and his friend. He already had a really bad driving record.
He was charged with a lot of stuff including speeding running the stop sign, but took a deal that included pleading guilty to just one reckless driving charge while receiving the max penalty - 90 days in jail, two years suspended license (to begin when his current suspension ends next year), 500 hours of community service and $500 fine. The judge suspended 60 of the 90 days of jail, probably contingent that he carry out the rest of the sentence.
A county grand jury chose not to indict him criminally, which is probably why he wasn't charged with any sort of "vehicular manslaughter" type offense - so those that feel he didn't get enough punishment, please see the local grand jury, not the local DA or judge. - deweyhewson, on 07/01/2009, -1/+2I totally agree.
What this all stems from is the fact that the vast majority of people look at prison as being about punishment, instead of protection for society. If we cared about the betterment of society we would focus on rehabilitation and defense of society, not on exacting revenge on the criminal. That only serves to entrench them as a criminal, and does nothing to improve society.
Both of these athletes took the life somebody else. They have both accepted that, and they will have to live with it the rest of their lives. Both were accidents, and both are unlikely to happen again.
What exactly is served by putting them in prison for an extended period? Vengeance, and only vengeance. - Gusbob, on 07/02/2009, -0/+1If it was only animal abuse he wouldn't even be jailed.
Read up on the charges - ronaldinho, on 07/01/2009, -1/+2He's always been a good NBA player, and while his off-court life has been troubling thus far, I do think he has grown up. Anyone you had a brush with death, whether it's you or someone close you know, man that makes you grow up quick. Supposedly. And I hope JR grows better because of this
- pLuhhmm, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1You =D
- LRG1, on 07/01/2009, -3/+430 days?
WTF??? - metvettefreak, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1J.T. Smith duh
- jtt123, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1must be nice being famous
- drastik21, on 07/02/2009, -0/+1I was referring to the drug war in Mexico and the drug dealers/police/civilians that get killed every day. I am totally for legalization of marijuana in the United States, since it's fueling this nonsense war that has been spewing over the border recently.
- nickbr00tality, on 07/01/2009, -1/+2according to PETA.
- JCEEZ, on 07/01/2009, -0/+1Money buys good lawyers...... It's not fair, it's not right, but if I had a lot of money, and I messed up, I would get the best lawyer I could get also.
- zadadka, on 07/02/2009, -0/+1Nah...probably just relied on the first choice of your spellchecker :)
- JCEEZ, on 07/01/2009, -1/+2Money buys good lawyers.....
Sad but true. - gameforge, on 07/01/2009, -1/+2It's almost as if people just aren't capable of comprehending his situation for a normal person, yet it happens all the time...
Imagine it's you. You're driving aggressively and recklessly, you have buddies in the car (but you're sober), and you screw up, crash, and kill someone in your buddy and injure two others. Imagine *you* did that.
You get a citation, you're in shock, there's cops and paramedics, bystanders, and you're injured. Maybe you already know about your friend, or perhaps not. Finally your ride shows up to bring you home, as your car is obviously wrecked. You have a court date.
If not at the scene then later on, you get word that your friend died.
Some weeks/months later, after the accident replayed in your mind in slow motion about fifty billion times, you dress up nice because it's your court date. You're still miserable because you were an idiot and killed your friend, injured two others, and your car got screwed up, and now you get to go have your ass handed to you in front of his family and probably yours by city officials and a judge - and you know you deserve it.
After recounting everything in court, in front of lots of people you may or may not know, the judge gets through ripping you for being a dolt, and it comes time to sentence you - would you REALLY expect YEARS? Especially if you had an overall okay legal record to that point?
For something you obviously didn't intend to do?
I'm inclined to say that it wouldn't even be a month in this case if he weren't famous.
Take his license away, make him honor the friend he killed in a memorable way (like doing 500 hours of community service with sick children), require specific classes for incompetent/dangerous drivers, and put you in jail for a period to make sure you have plenty of time to think about everything (a deterrent for repeat offenses which involves being away from everything you love as well as your career). This is all entirely appropriate.
Then if you don't do the service or take the classes, you go to jail for 60 more days. That's why the judge gave him 90 days and suspended 60 of them. We're concerned with justice and rehabilitation here; jail for longer than a few months, for this, would just be angry vengefulness on the part of the judge.
tl;dr - sorry for the long comment. - inactive, on 07/02/2009, -0/+1Must be a big difference between NY and NJ. Accidentally shoot yourself in NYC, they want you in jail for 3 years. Accidentally kill someone & injure two others, in NJ, they want 500 hours community service and a month in jail.
- WSPanic201, on 07/02/2009, -0/+1i don't get it
- mustbetheganja, on 07/02/2009, -0/+0he wasn't driving drunk and he killed his good friend, not a random person. Please read the article before making replies to it. Harsher punishments do not deter people either. How tough have laws against drunk driving gotten? Yet more people are doing it now than ever it seems.
- amolkold, on 07/01/2009, -2/+2Thugget belongs there.
And how convenient is it that he's going to jail during the off-season? - twiztidsinz, on 07/01/2009, -2/+2If he wasn't 'famous', he'd be doing years...
- mustbetheganja, on 07/02/2009, -0/+0Yea, article said nothing about being drunk, and it sucks that the world we live in is like that, but it has always been that way and will not change.
- mustbetheganja, on 07/02/2009, -0/+0pot has never killed anyone, you are confused my friend, however police kill people all the time.
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