Replies to post #23942 on Dodge Boys Nazcar Racing ((DODGE))

[tr8dervic]

The Ontario County District Attorney's office will take the Tony Stewart case to a grand jury, D.A. Michael Tantillo said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr., 20, on Aug. 9 during a sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.

"Over the past several weeks, I have reviewed with members of the Ontario County Sheriff's Department their investigation, as it progressed, in the Tony Stewart matter," he said. "Recently that office concluded its work and forwarded the complete case file to me. Upon my review of all of the information contained in the entire investigation, I have made the determination that it would be appropriate to submit the evidence to a grand jury, for their determination as to what action should be taken in this matter.

"Accordingly, the evidence developed in the investigation will be presented to an Ontario County grand jury in the near future."

Tantillo said grand jury proceedings in New York are strictly confidential and he could not say when the matter would be scheduled other than to say it would be in the "near future."

"Similarly, because of the confidential nature of these proceedings, I cannot state who will be called as witnesses, or what any witness's expected testimony will be," he said. "When the presentation has been completed and a determination has been made, I will advise the public and the media at that time of the results."

In a statement, the three-time NASCAR champion said:

"I respect the time and effort spent by both the Ontario County District Attorney and the Sheriff's Office in investigating this tragic accident. I look forward to this process being completed, and I will continue to provide my full cooperation." ?

Mike Arning, director of communication for Stewart-Haas Racing, confirmed Tuesday Stewart will race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.

[tr8dervic]

Tony Stewart not charged in death of Kevin Ward Jr.

Tony Stewart will not face criminal charges in Kevin Ward Jr.'s death, a grand jury in upstate New York decided.

The Ontario County District Attorney's office took the evidence in Stewart's case to a grand jury, which found there was no basis for criminal charges, D.A. Michael Tantillo announced Wednesday.

Tantillo said toxicology reports revealed that Ward was under the influence of marijuana at a high enough level to impair judgment.

Tantillo said there were two charges submitted for consideration by the grand jury against Stewart: manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide. He said neither received the necessary 12 votes from the grand jury to charge Stewart. The grand jury heard the evidence and testimony from two dozen witness (including drivers, track employees, medical personnel and two accident experts) "over the better part of two days" and deliberated for less than an hour before reaching the decision, Tantillo said.

Tantillo said Stewart was presented the opportunity to testify but wouldn't confirm whether he did.

Tantillo said two videos of the incident were examined, a clip that went viral on YouTube and another from the racetrack. The videos were run at 75%, 50% and 25% speed and overlaid with grids and data and "were an important piece of the evidence," Tantillo said. "The videos did not demonstrate any aberrational driving by Tony Stewart until the point of impact with Kevin Ward, at which point his vehicle veered to the right up the track as a result of the collision. Prior to that, his course was pretty straight."

Tantillo said there was no toxicology performed on Tony Stewart, but that a certified drug recognition expert interviewed him on the night of Ward's death and determined no basis for alcohol consumption or drug impairment.

Tantillo added that, "the grand jury was never tasked with the responsibility of anything other than to determine whether there was enough evidence to file charges against Tony Stewart. They weren't considering whether anybody else was at fault. However, I'm sure from their deliberations and discussions that the fact that Kevin Ward was observed running basically two-thirds of the track into a hot track in the middle of other cars that still were racing played a big, big factor in their decision."

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Asked why he submitted the case to a grand jury, Tantillo said, "There were probably several reasons. When I reviewed the investigation that had been prepared by the sheriff's department, it was clear a number of the witnesses interviewed had different perspectives on what they'd seen and heard. There were varying versions of what had actually taken place. There was not one clear monolithic story that was presented to me. Additionally, several of the important witnesses chose not to make statements to the police. They did not want to make any statements, so the only way I could find out what they had to say or offer was to subpoena them and compel them to testify, which I did. Finally when you have a case of this magnitude and this interest, I think it's important that the public knows that a large group of citizens drawn at random from the community heard all the evidence in the case and collectively returned a judgment."

Later Wednesday, the Ward family indicated it was not satisfied with the decision to clear Stewart and said it will "pursue all remedies in fairness to Kevin."

In a statement provided to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Ward Jr.'s mother Pam said the "matter is not at rest."

"Our son got out of his car during caution while the race was suspended," she said. "All the other vehicles were reducing speed and not accelerating, except for Tony Stewart, who intentionally tried to intimidate Kevin by accelerating and sliding his car toward him, causing the tragedy.

"The focus should be on the actions of Mr. Stewart and not my son."

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Pam Ward had no comment on the toxicology report that found her son had enough marijuana in his system to impair his judgment. She did not answer questions aside from the statement.

Stewart still could face a civil suit from Ward's family.

The grand jury's decision is a major relief to both Stewart and the NASCAR community, which has been under a cloud since Stewart struck and killed Ward in an Aug. 9 sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.

Tantillo said approximately two dozen witnesses testified. Two videos, photos and "other documentary evidence" also were reviewed.

"After listening to and questioning all of the witnesses, and reviewing all of the evidence, the grand jury has determined that there is no basis to charge Tony Stewart with any crimes; his case was "No-Billed" by the grand jury," Tantillo said in a statement released prior to his press conference.

USATODAY

Tony Stewart: Death of Kevin Ward Jr. 'will stay with me forever'

All along, statements from Stewart-Haas Racing referred to Ward's death as an "accident." Now, it's clear the 23-member grand jury agreed there wasn't sufficient evidence to suggest Stewart was negligent.