http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... OE=SPOISVA


Drunk Driving is cool if you are an athlete and you can pay for a good lawyer.

The Broncos should trade Trevor Pryce to the Rams for a draft pick or to move up in the first round.

Everytime I'm watching a Rams game, and they mention Leonard Little, I think "What's it like to walk around with that kind of guilt?" Then I remember, he probably doesn't have any. What a tool.

alot of players have gotten off for way worse

Doesn't make the stuff he's done any better

if you read the article in the st louis post, the arrestign officer was a complete moron who so miserably fouled up administering the sobriety tests that there was absolutely no way to tell 100% if Little was driving drunk.

The officer admitted Little was NOT swerving nor did his DRIVING make him appear drunk. He was pulled over for speeding (78 in a 55 or 65 i think) and the officer asked if Little had been drinking. Little told the cop he had 1-2 beers and thats when the officer did the tests and screwed them up.

It was also reported that this officer didnt own or read the official manual on administering the feild sobriety tests nor did he take any classes on the subject after 1997.

So this isnt a case of a rich athlete buying freedom.

here is the article i referred to:

Rams report: Inside slant Apr. 3, 2005
The Sports Xchange



Rams defensive end Leonard Little was acquitted on charges of drunk driving April 1, clearing the way for him to play this season without concern of being jailed or suspended by the NFL.


Little was arrested on April 24, 2004, and charged with driving while intoxicated in the St. Louis suburb of Ladue. Because Little pled guilty of manslaughter resulting from a 1998 incident that resulted in the death of a woman, he was charged with a felony as a persistent offender. However, the prior conviction was not allowed to be introduced into testimony. A felony conviction could have resulted in a jail term of four years.

Little was convicted of a speeding charge, which will likely bring a fine. As the judge was thanking the jury for its time, Little sobbed loudly and appeared as though he almost collapsed.

Attorney Scott Rosenblum was able to convince the jury that the roadside sobriety tests conducted by officer Gregory Stork were not administered correctly, invalidating his opinion that Little was drunk.

Little was allegedly clocked at 78 m.p.h. at 3:44 a.m. on a St. Louis highway where Stork routinely sets up in an effort to catch speeders. In fact, court testimony revealed that Stork has been responsible for 30-35 percent of the drunk driving arrests from the 28-person police force.

Stork testified that Little showed no signs of erratic driving after following him for about 1.5 miles. However, Little was arrested after failing three tests given by Stork on the shoulder of the highway. One eye test was administered while Little was sitting in his car with his head turned toward the window with cars driving by.

Rosenblum was able to introduce evidence that Stork did not own a manual, which mandates how precisely how such tests are to be conducted and that he had never taken additional classes since 1997, when he was trained in roadside sobriety testing.

In his police report, Stork reported that Little admitted drinking that night. In an audio tape, Little is asked if he was drinking, and says, ''Not very much. Like two beers.'' Later, he claims his last drink came an hour before being stopped.

That tape, which Stork normally uses in the event someone he arrests complains about treatment, was then used by the defense to show that the roadside tests were invalid. In the eye test, for example, it was shown that the total time should be no less than 48 seconds and perhaps one minute. The tape revealed that Stork did the test in 10 seconds.

Additionally, Rosenblum introduced testimony Stork gave in a hearing 19 days before he arrested Little, where the officer gave incorrect information on how the eye test is administered. While the manual says the distance from the suspect to the officer''s finger should be 12-15 inches, under oath Stork said 12-18 inches. The manual also says there should be 14 passes in one part of the test, but Stork testified on April 5, 2004, that it was eight.

Stork testified in the Little trial that he ''misspoke'' and was ''in error '' on that occasion. Stork also had numerous contradictions in testimony including one where he claimed in a deposition he didn''t recognize Little immediately, while admitting Thursday in the trial that he did, in fact, recognize him. The officer claimed Little was swaying during one test with his arms held out. Another officer there for backup said he didn''t see any swaying.

While the officer also claimed speeding is a possible sign of drunk driving, the manual lists 20 clues regarding possible drunk driving and speeding is not one of them. In fact, going less than the speed limit is considered an indicator.

It was also brought out that drunk drivers often do not see what''s around them because they are overly intent on looking straight ahead. Yet, the officer testified that Little slowed down when he noticed the police car.

Little has been found innocent in a court of law, and must be respected.

However, it's clear that Little has a checkered past, at the least, and I wouldn't want my team's pass rush core to be compromised by a possible ticking time bomb.

If I'm Martz, I draft/trade for/sign the best DE I can get.

Little did his time for that past offense. Speaking as a Rams fan myself, it sucks hes the type of guy he is or was, but as long as he helps the Rams win, Im gonna root for him. such is life.

My point is I don't have full confidence that he's going to stay out of trouble. If he finally screws up big-time, he's not going to help the Rams win.

I wouldn't cut or bench Little because of this--but I try to would find someone just as good as him on the other side as insurance, at the very least (The Rams have needed someone to replace Wistrom, anyway).

He was found not guilty to the SECOND offense. He still plead no contest to the FIRST one that KILLED an innocent lady. If that would have been you or I we would have lost everything and if we were out of PRISON by now we would have to pick up the pieces of our pathetic life. Instead he ALLEDGEDLY went to a birthday party and had too much to drink and decided to drive while impaired again. What a loser.

so whats your point? he served jail time AND a 4 game suspension. stop bitching about it. it has nothing to do with being a rich athlete and everythign to do with this countrys fucked up legal system. move on already

It has everything to do with him being a loser. Let him kill one of your family members next week and see you "get over it". I cannnot believe anyone would defend this behavior.

This makes me wonder how many of the 30-35 percent of drunk driving arrests made by Stork are invalid. This may not be a case of a rich pro athlete buying his freedom, but Little's money certainly paid for a damn good lawyer. Most people simply don't have the money, means, or motivation to challenge. Obviously Little had a little extra motivation to disprove the allegations.

"Additionally, Rosenblum introduced testimony Stork gave in a hearing 19 days before he arrested Little, where the officer gave incorrect information on how the eye test is administered. While the manual says the distance from the suspect to the officer''s finger should be 12-15 inches, under oath Stork said 12-18 inches."

Yea, He sound like a moron. How could he not have known it was 12-15 not 12-18. Go Rams.