Former 1st round #12 pick Henry Ruggs: 3 to 10 yrs prison for drunk driving fatal crash

[BuffaloBillyG]

6 hours ago, JoPoy88 said:

yes trust me I get it - two entirely different cases, the intent to harm certainly wasn’t there for Ruggs - I’m just saying the optics are bad, especially considering the horrible way the woman Ruggs hit died.

Disagree. It could be and I've seen it successfully argued in a court of law that getting behind the wheel while intoxicated IS intent to harm. As would be driving 156MPH on a public road. 

[Lost]

misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter has to be one of the biggest oxymorons in the English language.  Under what context should taking someone's life ever be considered "no big deal"?    

[MJS]

30 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Disagree. It could be and I've seen it successfully argued in a court of law that getting behind the wheel while intoxicated IS intent to harm. As would be driving 156MPH on a public road. 

I was going to say the same thing. Everyone knows the risks and he refused to acknowledge them. It was willful endangerment. It is as close to intent to harm as you can get.

[Rc2catch]

Just crazy. The amount of people doing more time for so much less. And this dude will be back in the league before he’s 30 after killing someone. Not sure of the good behavior rules at this level of crime etc etc but when I was younger you only had to do 2/3 of your time with good behavior. Money might not buy happiness as they say, but it sure can keep you out of trouble. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

32 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Disagree. It could be and I've seen it successfully argued in a court of law that getting behind the wheel while intoxicated IS intent to harm. As would be driving 156MPH on a public road. 

 

15 minutes ago, Lost said:

misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter has to be one of the biggest oxymorons in the English language.  Under what context should taking someone's life ever be considered "no big deal"?    

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers".

Henry VI, part 2, Act IV, Scene 2.

Throw in a bunch of legislators and judges while you're at it...

[Doc]

Ridiculous. The poor girl burned to death, which is one of the worst ways to die and all this guy gets is 3-10 years?

[Goin Breakdown]

8 hours ago, HansLanda said:

It's crazy this stuff still happens. There are so many options to not be behind the wheel - no matter your social status. 

This on top of weed and texting. No one even bothers to check for weed it seems. 

[Matt_In_NH]

Leanard Little killed someone drunk driving and kept playing

 

"Little didn't play the rest of the season, and he would be placed on the non-football injury list. But the outrage was only beginning. Months later, when he pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter, he was given a sentence of 90 nights in jail and 1,000 hours of community service"

 

There was a receiver for the Ravens who got no jail time for the same thing...he just payed the family 5M to not push it.

[Behindenemylines]

1 hour ago, Dopey said:

Right now, I wonder what kind of person he’ll be when he gets out. No NFL money. Will he do right or come out with no hope and hits the streets. Sadly, I’ll forget about this by lunchtime. 

It’s not sad to forget about him-he’s a killer.  What he did wasn’t some stupid mistake, it was purely criminal.   The only sad part is what the victim went through and what her family will continue to go through. 
 

If he only does 3 of the 10, he’s still very young.  What are the chances he tries to come back to the NFL?  Can they actually ban him if he’s done his time?  I would think there are felons currently playing but I could be wrong.   And what team would even consider him? 
 

as you mentioned his prospects will be very limited when he’s out.  

[Utah John]

10 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

I don't want to destroy two young lives but three years is too lenient.  Should've at least been 15 minimum imo.

Well, Ruggs destroyed (ended) two young lives, in a most horrific way.  The victim was alive after the crash and couldn't get out of her car while she burned to death.  Of course neither could her dog.

[Utah John]

9 hours ago, chongli said:

Damn...OJ gets 33 years from Nevada for kidnapping and armed robbery, but Ruggs gets just 3-10 from the same state?

Yeah, well, OJ was really sentenced to that big term for murder.  It's not how the system is supposed to work, but everyone knows he did kill those people, and he finally got something close to the right punishment.  Again, I'm not saying that's how things should work, but if the original trial had reached the obvious conclusion, the kidnapping charge wouldn't have been grabbed by the justice system to put him away for so long.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

Burned that poor lady and her dog alive. Pathetic, but I guess that’s what having money can do for u. Hopefully he comes out a much better person

[Beck Water]

9 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Nothing due to decency.  His laywer plea bargained because he determined his client would lose in court.

 

Ruggs was offered a plea bargain allegedly because the DA feared he would win in court.

 

3 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Disagree. It could be and I've seen it successfully argued in a court of law that getting behind the wheel while intoxicated IS intent to harm. As would be driving 156MPH on a public road. 

 

I certainly agree with you completely.  Get behind the wheel while drunk and drive, just like taking a gun and randomly shooting it along a residential street.  There may not be a specific intent to harm a specific individual, but every adult should realize there's a high probability of causing serious harm to SOMEONE.

 

Same with driving that fast on a public street.

 

There used to be an attitude to excuse actions when someone was drunk "he didn't mean it, he was drunk".  That's changed, but not far enough.

Edited August 10, 2023 by Beck Water

[Nextmanup]

11 hours ago, HansLanda said:

It's crazy this stuff still happens. There are so many options to not be behind the wheel - no matter your social status. 

And yet here in FLORIDA it is LEGAL to drive while holding your phone and talking or playing with it.

 

Studies have shown this is MORE DANGEROUS than driving drunk; it's more distracting.

 

Way to go Florida and every other state that allows this crap.

 

This country is so f-ing stupid.

 

 

[Beast]

Jalen Carter was racing and killed 2 people and got probation. It could be said those people that were killed were OK with Carter racing….but were they?

 

Carter wasn’t reported to be intoxicated but should that matter?  In fact, shouldn’t you be more culpable when you are sober?

 

Regardless, vehicle deaths aren’t taken nearly as serious as they should be.
 

 

[RobbRiddick]

I'm sure Mahomes will enjoy throwing this guy passes in about 3 years

[Beast]

4 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

And yet here in FLORIDA it is LEGAL to drive while holding your phone and talking or playing with it.

 

Studies have shown this is MORE DANGEROUS than driving drunk; it's more distracting.

 

Way to go Florida and every other state that allows this crap.

 

This country is so f-ing stupid.

 

 

I agree and also disagree. Phones certainly can be an obvious distraction but so can eating fast food, putting on makeup, changing the radio station, turning around to look at a backseat passenger….

 

Where does it end? 

[muppy]

the poor victim suffered a horrific death. I don't think this sentence is long enough.  3 year possible minimum sentence? SMH Even a decade seems short . 

 

I hope he redeems his life after this. 

Edited August 10, 2023 by muppy

[Brand J]

7 minutes ago, Beast said:

Jalen Carter was racing and killed 2 people and got probation. It could be said those people that were killed were OK with Carter racing….but were they?

 

Carter wasn’t reported to be intoxicated but should that matter?  In fact, shouldn’t you be more culpable when you are sober?

 

Regardless, vehicle deaths aren’t taken nearly as serious as they should be.
 

 

He was racing, but the other drunk woman lost control of her vehicle and killed herself and her passenger. I don’t know if you can blame Carter directly for their deaths, sure he bears a responsibility, but he wasn’t the driver of the vehicle that wrecked. 

[Matt_In_NH]

12 minutes ago, RobbRiddick said:

I'm sure Mahomes will enjoy throwing this guy passes in about 3 years

why mahomes?