Tony Stewart accidentally runs over fellow competitor

Accidentally??

His was the only one that did.

Tony needs to lose the logo that appears next to "SMOKE" above the drivers door on his Cup car. It's a skull wearing a racing helmet. 

So you are saying he intentionally committed suicide?  I guess that is the part that doesn't make sense.

I will agree what he did was incredibly stupid, but stupid is not criminal.  What Stewart did was criminal.  I'm sure Tony never intended to kill hi, but he did intend to clip him or at the very least buzz by him as close as possible.  You can see in the clip that right before he gets to the guy, his car jerks to the right toward the guy on the track.

On top of all this evidence is Tony's well known history of aggression and violence on the track and I think the DA has no choice but to investigate. 

So what would Stewart be charged with?
And how would one prove intent?

Answer 1:  I'm guessing manslaughter would be a very easy charge.  Murder was not the intent, but through the reckless purposeful actions of Tony, it was the ultimate result.

Answer 2:  One proves intent through a trial, most of the time with a jury but at times it can be done with a judge only if the defendant prefers.  Trials happen almost every day, in every courthouse throughout the country.  Most are open to the public.  Feel free to audit a trial to see how intent is proven in a court of law.

@maf @I pick

 

@ben - if steering is done that way it clearly makes it worse.

Just wish the guy didn't let his temper get the best of him.

Ya just can't charge Stewart with anything here in the end.

Well-
All I saw was a 20 yr old get pissed and go play in traffic-
Maybe Stewart veered toward him purposely- maybe on a wet track he lost control- I don't know and neither do you-

A tragic outcome, but predictable when that type of behavior has been tolerated in the past-

A lot of new rules, but nothing much else will come of this IMO

I'm pretty sure I know how the legal system works- I just am not sure in a split second intent can be proven unless Stewart says he tried to hit him-

i agree that this won't likely result in anything criminal but you don't need to prove intent to charge him with a crime.  you need intent to prove murder in a situation like this but stewart could be guilty of manslaughter even if everyone agreed he didn't intend to hit the guy.  if it could be proven that stewart did something reckless and a death resulted, that very well could be manslaughter. 

for instance, if you could prove the stewart was driving fast and intended to scare the guy but fucked up and hit him instead, that's probably manslaughter., 

IMO, Stewart just wanted to buzz the tower to make a point.  Throw in a stubborn kid and this happens.  Just a lot of bad things converging at once, unfortunately.

the obvious example that people are familiar with is DUI manslaughter.  you get drunk , you run a red light and hit another car and kill the driver, you obviously didn't intend to do it but you're looking at a manslaughter charge because you were driving recklessly by being drunk. 

Reckless driving on a dirt track,during a race?
That would be an interesting take....

 

 

I'd love for that to happen but I doubt it..

Correct, intent does not have to be proven for manslaughter since by the very definition of the crime the person did not intend to kill, but was done through gross negligence.  Swerving toawrd the person with the intent of putting a scare or "buzzing" him is gross negligence. 

certainly it wouldn't be an easy case to prove, but theoretically, it could be a crime. 

i don't know garbage about this nascar stuff but if the state felt they could prove that stewart was driving fast and meant to scare the guy by driving right up to him and because it's a dirt track, he wasn't in complete control and hit the guy, that could easily be considered manslaughter.  like bling said, intending to scare a guy like that is probably manslaughter ion my mind. 

however, proving it in court is another matter.   because it's a car race and this other guy put himself in a very dangerous position, the case is probably too difficult to try to prove. 

Stewart killed a man with his childish manuever, he'll be haunted for the remainder of his life. I'd start shooting heroin immediatly if I had that on my lap.

He'll never ever see any charges brought against him either. Impossible on a race track. 

Retire, devote your life and money to something that saves lives. Loser.

I don't know about that.  This isn't an open and closed case as you suggest.  They are seeking anyone that has (better) video of the accident.     This seems to indicate they are looking for anything  reckless on the part of Stewart.  "Buzzing him"  and/or gunning the engine close to him would certainly be a reckless act... Even though Tony had no intention of hitting him (at least we hope not). 

     I think this is the audio/video detail they want to get their hands on.

I wasn't going to post on here anymore but I saw a nascar driver murder someone. 

I understand the kid shouldn't of got out of his car but Tony hit the throttle when he got up close to him.  An accident maybe because I think like what others have said he was trying to scare him or throw dirt in his face and it went bad. 

Even if it was we still have to pay the consequences for are actions and Tony should be no different.  Other cars in front of stewart missed the guy if Stewart is this "professional" driver like the likes to think he should of had no problems going around the guy like the other amature dirt track drivers did that night especially with caution out and cars going 25 to 30 mph.  There is no excuse he hit that man. 

The idea he was going to race the next day also shows he has no regard or conscious that he just killed someone.  Clearly his lawyers and team talked him out of it after they said it was "business as usual".  Someone with a brain said to him a you just killed someone going out and racing and saying business as usual after you just killed someone probably isn't a good idea.  You should show the guy at least a little compassion.  It makes smoke look like the prick he is. 

Say what you will but some kind of criminal charges should be brought against him.

Stewart's been racing for almost two decades. He knows precisely where to place a car on a track.

 

Besides saying, "Business as usual", Greg Zipadelli also said "after Tony slept on it, he's decided not to race today."

There is no way that anybody that just killed someone should be able to sleep one wink. Those Sprint cars are built so that the weight of the driver is over the rear axle. The R/R tire that spit that poor kid up the track is so close to the driver that Tony had to both see and definitely feel the horror of what happened.

Prosecutor, "Mr. Stewart, did you see the guy?" "Mr. Stewart, no i did not." Case closed, you're free to go.

Even though the guy has a history, worst case scenario he was trying to teach that kid a lesson by filling his mouth full of dirt.

Another poster said it best, "You mess with the bull, sometimes you get the horns"

The bull won. Plain and simple.

No way in hell he will say he seen him, and meant to hit him...

I'll bet the next time there is an incident on a race track, whoever is involved will think twice about running out onto the track though.

I'll bet the next time there is an incident on a race track, whoever is involved will think twice about running out onto the track though.

no doubt about that. 

Tony canceled his sprint car race also. I'm thinking for all practical purposed Tony will fade away regardless of whether he comes back and races. He now has become a sponsors nightmare!