Donte Stallworth is in massive trouble. What began as a horrible-sounding accident with a pedestrian in Miami Beach has now mushroomed into full-blown trouble of the first degree. Stallworth not only had a part in a man's death over the weekend in striking Mario Reyes with his Bentley on the Macarthur Causeway, but was reportedly legally drunk when he did it.
↵↵If Stallworth is tried -- or when he is tried -- he'll have to be tried in Miami-Dade county accused of hitting a 59-year-old crane operator named Miguel Reyes, a "family man" who came from Cuba to Miami for the standard deal: a better life, opportunities for his children, etc. Reyes had worked all night and was trying to catch a bus home when Stallworth allegedly struck him and killed him; the ghastly aftermath can be viewed here, where video shows a stone-faced Stallworth receiving field sobriety tests from Miami PD while paramedics work over Reyes' body. ↵
↵↵I'm no attorney, but the following things can be placed in the highly likely category: Stallworth was allegedly legally drunk, there's video of the accident's horrific aftermath, and a crime involving a hardworking Cuban victim could be tried against a highly-paid athlete in Dade County. Legally speaking, this is nightmare territory of the ninth degree. Unless there's some kind of legal kung-fu we're not aware of, Stallworth should plea and plea fast if he hopes to come out of this with a dime left to his name. After all: after the criminal case is long settled, Stallworth could face a civil case for his role in Reyes' death, and that's where the financial damage really starts. ↵
↵↵Things could be worse for Stallworth, though. He could have been the one hit by a drunk driver leaving South Beach at seven in the morning and killed. ↵
↵This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.