dgr81 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/377851.html Guilty plea expected Friday by Lynch to a traffic violation DA looking for fair resolution By Gene Warner Updated: 06/25/08 7:21 AM Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch is expected to plead guilty Friday to a traffic violation — which is not a criminal charge — for the hit-and- run accident involving his vehicle, law enforcement sources say. Authorities investigating the May 31 accident have discussed two possible traffic violations: failure to exercise due care to avoid striking a pedestrian or leaving the scene of a property-damage accident. Each of those violations carries a maximum penalty of $250 and 15 days in jail, but first-time offenders are all but assured of avoiding jail on such charges. “We’ll look at something that we feel fits the facts and fairly resolves the issues,” Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark said Tuesday. “Those [two] sections are commonly used to resolve cases of people charged with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident.” Clark and others have said that, at most, Lynch would have been charged with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, a Class A misdemeanor. But last Friday, Clark announced that an agreement in principle had been reached to settle the case. That occurred after Clark, attorneys for the Bills and defense attorney Michael P. Caffery discussed a possible plea deal allowing Lynch to plead to a reduced charge. “It appears we have a resolution on the matter, but I’ll decline comment until Friday,” Caffery said Tuesday. Clark also refused to discuss which charge Lynch would plead guilty to, but the section on exercising due care seems to fit the facts of the case. Section 1146 of the state’s Vehicle and Traffic Law says, in part, “every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any bicyclist, pedestrian or domestic animal upon any roadway.” Lynch’s SUV struck a 27- year-old Ontario woman at about 3:30 that morning on Delaware Avenue at West Chippewa Street. Law enforcement officials have said that it was dark and raining, that the victim was wearing dark clothing, that the driver may have been distracted by another woman in front of the victim and that the driver did not try to hide the vehicle, which later was found in Lynch’s Hamburg driveway. Sources also have said that both Lynch and his passenger, Bills rookie wide receiver Steve Johnson, have claimed they didn’t know their vehicle had struck anyone. But Timothy G. O’Connell, the attorney for victim Kimberley Shpeley, has said that she and two friends claimed the SUV struck her, “slowed down and then came to a complete stop” before speeding off. Other witnesses, though, have told investigators that the SUV never slowed down. Sources familiar with the case expect Lynch to make a public statement about the incident Friday afternoon, either in Traffic Court or outside court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endzone Animal Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Should have been this: Clark and others have said that...Lynch would have been charged with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, a Class A misdemeanor. Oh, well...he's rich, famous and has a bigtime lawyer. Those of us who are disgusted with Lynch will remain disgusted, and those of you who have remained Lynch fans throughout will continue to be Lynch fans. And that's that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantelliotoffen Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Should have been this: Clark and others have said that...Lynch would have been charged with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, a Class A misdemeanor. Oh, well...he's rich, famous and has a bigtime lawyer. Those of us who are disgusted with Lynch will remain disgusted, and those of you who have remained Lynch fans throughout will continue to be Lynch fans. And that's that. I'd trade this punishment for a suspended license, that would keep him out of trouble! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I am glad this will be over with a very light slap on the hand, likely keeping the league from taking any action at all. But I am concerned that this just geting brushed off will give Marshawn and other young Bills the mindset that they are somewhat untouchable and can do as they wish. That, of course, would be very dangerous to them and to the team. Incidentally, I think it would have been very difficult if not impossible to prove Lynch knew he his someone, which would have to be proven to charge him with something more serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsD#1in2008 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I am still a Lynch fan very much so and um the DA said it was rainy and dark that night and could not see out so come on it is not like he tried to !@#$in hit her! So as long as Lynch does not go to jail and i know he will learn his lesson then i will be happy that this is all behind us, so GO BILLS and GO MARSHAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasoninMT Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I wish ML would come out now and do his Press Conference... but I guess that has to wait until after the plea is entered to be safe... plus, he has to deal with the civil suit which is likely to come up (probably shortly after the plea is entered). I really hope they can resolve this as nicely as possible... I also think even though it seems harsh, it was a smart move for him to wait. He made the mistake of hitting her - possibly while under the influence of something - or maybe he was on his cell when it happened, we'll never know. His second mistake was not stopping and making sure she was alright etc. if he'd done that, we might never have heard about it, the police might never have been called... I don't think keeping his mouth shut after the first two errors in judgement was a mistake... agonizing for fans... but it was smart to keep quiet about it and allow emotions to settle down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Has anyone looked up any case law on this? I wonder how this penalty stacks up to other similar cases. Glad its almost over though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Should have been this: Clark and others have said that...Lynch would have been charged with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, a Class A misdemeanor. Oh, well...he's rich, famous and has a bigtime lawyer. A 'big time' lawyer? Perhaps, but that certainly wasn't required here. A merely competent attorney is all that anyone would have needed to plead down in this case. I know several ordinary people that got caught red handed doing worse than this and received less punishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I wish ML would come out now and do his Press Conference... but I guess that has to wait until after the plea is entered to be safe... plus, he has to deal with the civil suit which is likely to come up (probably shortly after the plea is entered). I really hope they can resolve this as nicely as possible... I also think even though it seems harsh, it was a smart move for him to wait. He made the mistake of hitting her - possibly while under the influence of something - or maybe he was on his cell when it happened, we'll never know. His second mistake was not stopping and making sure she was alright etc. if he'd done that, we might never have heard about it, the police might never have been called... I don't think keeping his mouth shut after the first two errors in judgement was a mistake... agonizing for fans... but it was smart to keep quiet about it and allow emotions to settle down. It's clear that you believe the he indeed knew he hit her. So when Lynch publicly apologizes and says he didn't know he hit her, will you accept the apology even though you clearly believe he was impaired or talking on his phone? Just curious, as your post states both good and bad points, but no personal opinion on ML. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I am glad this will be over with a very light slap on the hand, likely keeping the league from taking any action at all. But I am concerned that this just geting brushed off will give Marshawn and other young Bills the mindset that they are somewhat untouchable and can do as they wish. That, of course, would be very dangerous to them and to the team. Incidentally, I think it would have been very difficult if not impossible to prove Lynch knew he his someone, which would have to be proven to charge him with something more serious. He's been vilified over this for a month, and likely had the piss scared out of him by a retardedly overzealous DA. I doubt he'll come away from this with the idea that he's untouchable. I'd still rather see him spend some time in jail, though. 15 days incarceration will reinforce in him the idea that he !@#$ed up far more than a $250 fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 He's been vilified over this for a month, and likely had the piss scared out of him by a retardedly overzealous DA. I doubt he'll come away from this with the idea that he's untouchable. I'd still rather see him spend some time in jail, though. 15 days incarceration will reinforce in him the idea that he !@#$ed up far more than a $250 fine. The part of your post I bolded is my point, exactly. I agree that he had to be pretty scared by this, but the final outcome is very mild and that is what the other players will remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endzone Animal Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 So when Lynch publicly apologizes and says he didn't know he hit her, will you accept the apology even though you clearly believe he was impaired or talking on his phone? Why does he need to accept an apology if he believes he is lying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 The part of your post I bolded is my point, exactly. I agree that he had to be pretty scared by this, but the final outcome is very mild and that is what the other players will remember. But the question remains, did he really get special treatment on this or, had this happened to any of us, would we have gotten the same plea deal as Lynch? I don't get the sense that he's getting "special treatment" as someone alluded to earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I'd still rather see him spend some time in jail, though. 15 days incarceration will reinforce in him the idea that he !@#$ed up far more than a $250 fine. I'm thinking Lynch, and maybe a good many of his teammates, wouldn't rather spend the 15 days in the clink than doing two-a-days in Pittsford... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 But the question remains, did he really get special treatment on this or, had this happened to any of us, would we have gotten the same plea deal as Lynch? I don't get the sense that he's getting "special treatment" as someone alluded to earlier. I don't think he received special treatment other than teh DA likely would have filed for a warrant for his arrest if he were a regular Buffalonian. I have to believe that if I hit someone that night and drove way, and a witness got my plate number, the police would have done more than jut tow my truck away. They would have at least come into my house. But I think the end result is what anyone with a clean record would have received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I am glad this will be over with a very light slap on the hand, likely keeping the league from taking any action at all. Not saying this about you, but many posters on this board took ML's side strictly from the view that with or without ML could be the difference between playoffs or not. And they want to make the playoffs. That's wrong. ML should get the typical treatment for this offense. Now what's typical though? Reminds me of a guy here at work when OJ was charged with murder. "OJ couldn't have done it. He rushed for 2,000 yards one year!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webtoe Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 This too shall pass... None of us know Marshawn or should pretend to. Who knows what he is thinking at this moment? Hopefully he realizes he got off lucky feels badly about the incident and learns from it, just as any young adult should, but you never know, and personally it does not really have a bearing on whether I hope he does well for the Bills. I never to put to much stock in the 'high character' of a professional athlete or any public figure. Too many times you will only end up disappointed. I believe that most of you who are now down on Marshawn would have had similar reactions to Kelly and the boys back in the day. I never really liked Kelly as a person when he was playing, based on the stories around town (although he did by us a round once ), but I always rooted from him once he put on the uniform. In a few weeks, the season will start and all of this will be forgotten by 99% of you as long as they perform on the field. You may never really like Marshawn because of this, but you will continue to cheer for his contributions on the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasoninMT Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 It's clear that you believe the he indeed knew he hit her. So when Lynch publicly apologizes and says he didn't know he hit her, will you accept the apology even though you clearly believe he was impaired or talking on his phone? Just curious, as your post states both good and bad points, but no personal opinion on ML. Well, there is a chance he didn't know he hit her - I wasn't there... I know of other hit & run cases where the person didn't realize they hit someone... but, with 3 other people in the car, I'm pretty sure someone would have realized it... As far as being impaired is concerned, it's 3am on a Saturday night in the Nightclub district... very few people driving at that time of night are not impaired or distracted in my experience... I've been lucky a lot of times... Enough that I've stopped going out and only drink at home... I still have respect for ML... but, if there was enough damage to his vehicle for the police to have found something at the scene and been able to ID the vehicle... it's hard to think a person couldn't realize they hit "something"... unless they were impaired or distracted... I'm not trying to be mean... I just find it hard to believe a person wouldn't realize they hit something... even if it was a block or two later... and the "mature" thing to do would be turn back and check it out... I think everyone deserves a second chance, sometimes even a third chance depending on circumstances. So, as long as Marshawn takes care of his mistake he deserves his second chance like anyone else. I won't hold it against him... but, if he continues to hide behind a lawyer and doesn't deal with it, then I'd be disappointed in him... I'm trying to be reasonable... but it's hard to root for someone you don't respect as a person. At this point, I'm sort of in a holding pattern, waiting to see how he'll respond and take care of business. I don't want him getting taken to the cleaners by the victim either... he's responsible for her medical bills, and perhaps a small amount of pain and suffering... but it doesn't sound like she was seriously injured - meaning no long term health impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Reminds me of a guy here at work when OJ was charged with murder. "OJ couldn't have done it. He rushed for 2,000 yards one year!" What's wrong with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasoninMT Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I always gave OJ the benefit of the doubt... It was so out of character for him to do that - at least his public persona... My father actually met him once while he was still in Buffalo (after his playing days I think) and he was out with Nicole... My dad said Nicole was a B**** to him, and used some very derogatory rascist language in describing OJ while my dad was there... she was drunk, but it was inexcusable... I'm not saying she deserved being killed or anything, but she wasn't an angel. I do believe that OJ was responsible - and was in fact the person who did the deed. I have zero respect for him as a person. Since this happened after his playing days, I have the utmost respect for his on the field accomplishments. I still think he is a better RB than Thurman was... If he'd have had a better team surrounding him, we might have had a much better showing in his time. (off topic, but my top 3 RB are OJ, then Thurman, then Cookie). If Marshawn gives an honest apology - even if he says he didn't know he did it, but is contrite in his apology for the action itself... I'll accept that. I don't know that he "knew" he hit someone... If he comes of as insincere or unapologetic then I'll be disappointed. Marshawn Lynch has the potential to be the greatest RB for the Bills. I truly believe that. This should be a Hiccup (I wanted to say speedbump, but that's too close to the truth) on his record - and I believe it will be, not a road block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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