My educated guess is that it's not likely to end up with any serious consequence for him.Why not? Let's break it down from a few different angles. These cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute because the main element to prove is placing the person behind the wheel.
The "elements" of the case are what the prosecutor needs to win the case. They have to prove that it happened in the court's jurisdiction, by the defendant, and each part of the crime happened as well. Simple example: Assault - Knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another. The elements are, did it happen here, by this D, and did the D attempt to cause harm. For this case the main elements that give the prosecutor trouble are proving that the person was there AND was behind the wheel.
By now we've all seen the picture and video that shows someone who looks like Rice and a few other men walking away on the highway.That would seem to place Rice at the scene although I confess that if I saw him on the street I doubt I'd recognize him.
So this brings up the next part of the case and that's placing Rice behind the wheel. A wrinkle in this case is that we don't know who identified him as a driver, or if he was identified as a driver at all. Cross-racial identification issues are a real thing.
As a result, eyewitness accounts are notoriously fraught with issues.We've all seen the dashcam video by now as well, but it comes back to the same issues with eyewitness testimony.If that video is the best they have I'm withholding judgment.
Now pile all this stuff on top of each other
- High speed accident
- How is the ID made?
- How is Rice placed behind the wheel?
- Is there any evidence of any other wrongdoing?
The prosecutor may very well overcome all that, but you can see why I'm not jumping to conclusions about an outcome here. My fantasy opinion wrapped in my legal opinion is quite simple: I'm not worried. Yet. If new facts come out about aggravating factors - DUI, guns, more serious injury - then we can sound the alarm.
But, until that point, I don't see this ending up as a major problem for Rice in 2024 and beyond.I think it's quite possible he ends up missing no time on the field, or worst case a game or two. I struggle to see how it goes beyond that absent some major new facts.
