After Tony Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. in a sprint car race last weekend, the 43-year old was not charged and taken into custody by police pending an investigation into the matter. Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, may not be off the hook entirely, as legal experts believe he could still be charged with manslaughter or second-degree murder.
A first-degree murder charge for Stewart is almost entirely out of the question, unless Stewart admitted he hit Ward with criminal intent. Autoblog says the court could still hand him down a second-degree murder charge if they find he acted in a way which displayed “depraved indifference to human life” or first-degree manslaughter if he sped up to try and intimidate Ward and hit him by accident.
It’s hard to point fingers before the Ontario County Sheriff’s department has completed their investigation into the matter. The track was poorly lit and Ward was wearing a black racing suit when he approached Stewart’s car. There is also a lack of video evidence, with only one video of the incident surfacing online.
If Stewart doesn’t face criminal prosecution, it is still very likely he will face a civil suit from Ward’s family, Autoblog says. Stewart pulled out of last week’s Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen following the accident and announced yesterday he would not be racing at Michigan International Speedway this weekend either. We’ll keep you updated on the Tony Stewart/Kevin Ward situation as the story continues to develop.
Comments
Would you stop with this?
Yes the prosecutor could do something if there is any shred of proof that he intended any malice. At this point all the information out there could not stand up for any indictment. Lets just let them finish their investigation and work this out.
As for the Civil suit I am sure one will happen if for just revenge on the families part. It will be settled out of court and that will be that. The lawyer will be the only winner in that deal as It will cost Tony money, the family will not get their son back and the lawyer will take over half the settlement.
The media has to stop being fixated on that Tony shows anger or emotion as a driver. They all do even evidenced by Kevin prior to his demise. But that does not make someone intent on hurting anyone.
Also if you look at the available video it clearly shows Tony turning to the right to kick the rear of the car out to the left with the throttle as the small tires on these cars do little turning. You steer with the throttle. This was confirmed by Cory Sparks the driver behind the accident.
“From what I saw, Tony did everything in his power to turn down away from Kevin to avoid him,” sprint car driver Cory Sparks told Rochester.twc.news.com.
Sparks was a few cars behind Stewart on the racetrack but had a clear field of vision of what occurred, and said that videos that have been made public do not tell the whole story.
“People say that they heard the engine rev up and he gassed it,” Sparks said of Stewart. “In a sprint car, the only way to steer is you steer with the rear wheels as much as you do the steering wheel. In my opinion, what he did was he (Stewart) gassed it to turn down away from him (Ward).”
The media has not been neutral on his as they report the story often as Tony Stewart kills driver vs. driver dies in accident with Tony Stewart. So much for innocent till proven guilty.
It is bad enough we lost one driver here and the media is bent on making sure we lose a second that very well may be innocent of all the actuations.
Tony could only face a lawsuit if he is charged criminally. Right on the Empire Super Sprints membership form is this:
In consideration of being permitted to join Empire Super Sprints, Inc. (hereinafter called “ESS”) and being permitted to participate in or be a
spectator at Empire Super Sprints, Inc. membership events during 2014 I hereby:
1. Release, waive, discharge, and promise not to sue ESS, any of it’s officials, any of it’s members, any of it’s sponsors, or car owners,
drivers, pit crews, for personal injury or property damage which I sustain during 2014 arising out of an ESS event, whether my loss is caused
by the negligence of ESS or it’s members. This does not waive rights of suit in the event that an action is termed criminal within the
jurisdiction of applicable law.