Tony Stewart - Grand Jury... no charges.

[02SE]

Well, the bottom line is that the incident was investigated thoroughly. Far more thoroughly than what we can do looking at some video posted on Youtube.

Quote:
A grand jury that heard testimony from more than two dozen witnesses, including accident reconstruction experts and drivers, and looked at photographs and video decided against bringing criminal charges against Stewart for the death of 20-year-old sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. during an Aug. 9 race.


Quote:
The videos did not demonstrate any aberrational driving by Tony Stewart until the point of impact with Kevin Ward, at which point his vehicle veered to the right up the track as a result of the collision. Prior to that, his course was pretty straight," said Tantillo. He added that toxicology evidence from Ward's autopsy "indicates that at the time of operation he was under the influence of marijuana. The levels determined were enough to impair judgment.



After hearing from numerous witnesses, Accident Reconstruction experts, and other professional Sprint Car Drivers, and viewing pictures and enhancing and analyzing the videos, they determined that Stewart did nothing wrong.

Ward made a very poor choice, likely influenced by the marijuana in his system, and paid the ultimate price.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Yeah, OJ was innocent too because the jury said so due to skewed "evidence".

As I already said, IMO both were at fault ... two hotheads on each other = bad situation = deadly consequences in this case.

Follow race rules, or don't race.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
If this happened in F1 the driver would have had his Super License revoked in a heartbeat, assuming he wasn't killed.

What was it, 3 or 4 seasons ago when Lewis Hamilton was a little more "candid" about his opinions than he should have been and displayed a slightly poorer attitude, he was getting stop and go penalties for looking at the track limits the wrong way. And you and I have both undoubtedly noticed if a driver leaves his car, he tends to hop the fence very, very quickly, and that's with all kinds of instant notifications of yellow flags.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: 02SE
Well, the bottom line is that the incident was investigated thoroughly. Far more thoroughly than what we can do looking at some video posted on Youtube.

Quote:
A grand jury that heard testimony from more than two dozen witnesses, including accident reconstruction experts and drivers, and looked at photographs and video decided against bringing criminal charges against Stewart for the death of 20-year-old sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. during an Aug. 9 race.


Quote:
The videos did not demonstrate any aberrational driving by Tony Stewart until the point of impact with Kevin Ward, at which point his vehicle veered to the right up the track as a result of the collision. Prior to that, his course was pretty straight," said Tantillo. He added that toxicology evidence from Ward's autopsy "indicates that at the time of operation he was under the influence of marijuana. The levels determined were enough to impair judgment.



After hearing from numerous witnesses, Accident Reconstruction experts, and other professional Sprint Car Drivers, and viewing pictures and enhancing and analyzing the videos, they determined that Stewart did nothing wrong.

Ward made a very poor choice, likely influenced by the marijuana in his system, and paid the ultimate price.

Points well made and well said, again. And your post illustrates the difference between an unbiased impartial look at the facts in evidence as opposed to a prejudiced view based on emotion and bias.

As the thread title implies it's about the grand jury decision. Their decision is based on the facts in evidence you have highlighted several times now. Thus based on the facts, not internet experts watching youtube, the grand jury reached the only reasonable and competent decision.

All that said, clearly not everyone will heed the evidence but rather decide Stewart's involvement based on their own bias and prejudice. But I appreciate your efforts here and putting the decision in proper context.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Stewart screwed around ... and it turned into a tragedy. Did he "mean" to do harm ... no. Is he regretful and sorry this happened ... by all means.

But this one bit him big time in the arse. Call it biased or whatever, but it's not hard to see that Stewart was trying to be intimidating and confrontational, and it really backfired on him. The only reason the "grand jury" decided what they did in this case is because they know he never meant to do harm, but he was negligent and contributed to the outcome just as much as Ward.

The Ward family will most likely pursues civil actions, and I wouldn't blame them.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Stewart screwed around ...


You keep saying that, but the EVIDENCE DISSECTED BY EXPERTS, doesn't support that.

 

[ZeeOSix]

^^^ I don't care what "the 'experts' decided". My opinion only - you have yours, I have mine, and others have theirs. If you believe the "experts", then that's great, but I for one don't believe them.

Stewart knows what he did and he's rightly sorry for it. I bet he won't be making bonehead moves like that again in the remaining years of his racing career. Sometimes a very hard lesson is the only way to learn something.

 

[Srt20]

Has anyone in this thread ever raced cars in a sanctioned race??

If so, have you ever raced on dirt?? Have you ever raced or even driven a sprint car??

 

[ZeeOSix]

Shouldn't really have anything to do with this accident - a sprint car can be controlled just fine under circumstances like the ones this accident occurred under. Slow the car down and stay away from obstacles on the course when under yellow. Don't use your car as an intimidation device. And most importantly, don't get out of your car and antagonize others - they might antagonize back - the car will win in all cases. Get off the track if you need to get out of the car. Simple.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: Srt20
Has anyone in this thread ever raced cars in a sanctioned race??

If so, have you ever raced on dirt?? Have you ever raced or even driven a sprint car??


I've worked on and driven a Sprint Car, (albeit not in a Sprint Car race) years ago. I've raced Motorcycles, and currently work in Professional DragRacing. That said I'm more a guy that makes the machines work, as opposed to being the Driver.

I've found that the vast majority of people that are not involved in a given sport, end up missing a large part of the picture when viewing the sport from the outside. I've heard some interesting things from spectators, over the years.

This shouldn't be construed as being critical of those people. It's a simple fact that unless you are or have been personally involved in a sport, you just don't have a good idea of all the possible factors that are involved in competing in that sport.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Stewart screwed around ...


You keep saying that, but the EVIDENCE DISSECTED BY EXPERTS, doesn't support that.



Remember, some folks just think they know the intentions and thoughts of others.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I don't think Stewart himself knew what would ultimately result from acting on his intentions and thoughts at the time to intimidate on the race track.