Leonard Little apologizes

**dirk digler** · 04-10-2005, 08:36 AM

He actually sounds sincere.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...D?OpenDocument

Leonard Little discusses his drunken driving arrest
By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch
04/09/2005

Rams defensive end Leonard Little
(HUY RICHARD MACH/P-D)

Rams defensive end Leonard Little simply says he was with some friends the night of April 23, 2004.

"Not players or anything like that," Little said Saturday. "But I was with some friends, and we were just hanging out. Listening to music. It wasn't anything wild or anything like that."

Little's alcohol consumption that night?

"Just two beers," Little said.

Well after midnight on what became April 24, Little headed home on Highway 40. He lives in St. Charles, but had to drop off a friend first.

"I was just trying to get home," he said. "I was tired. It was late. And I'm not usually up that late. I was just trying to get home. I saw the (police) lights behind me. I got pulled over to the side of the road."

He was charged with speeding and drunken driving after being questioned by Ladue police officer Gregory Stork and given field sobriety tests. Little refused to submit to a breath analysis test at the Ladue police station, which would have pinpointed accurately his blood-alcohol content.

Stork later would testify in court that there was no doubt in his mind that Little was drunk. Little's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, portrayed Stork as a police officer with an agenda of making as many DWI arrests as he could.

"I don't have anything against the police officer," Little said. "He was a nice guy, but I think he just had bad intentions. That's the only comment I'll make about it. I'm not here to bash the police department, because I respect police and I respect authority."

More than 11 months later - on April 1, 2005 - a St. Louis County jury found Little guilty of speeding but acquitted him of the felony drunken driving charge. Had he be found guilty of drunken driving, Little could have been sentenced to four years in jail under Missouri's persistent offender law because of a previous drunken driving offense, one that led to a fatality. He also could have been subject to suspension by the National Football League.

While waiting nearly five hours for the verdict, Little kept reading a prayer given to his mother from James White, a pastor from back home. (Little is from Asheville, N.C.; White is from nearby Spartanburg, S.C.)

"It said: 'Be strong and courageous. Don't be anxious. Live life anew.' Which means start a new life," Little said. "It really helped me out. God's given me confidence, and I had that faith that everything was going to work out fine."

In his first comments to the media about the trial and about the 2004 arrest, Little told the Post-Dispatch: "The people that support me, and the people that know me, knew I wasn't intoxicated driving."

Even so, Little conceded that having anything to drink and getting behind the wheel of his 2003 Mercedes, "was stupid on my part. That was a dumb mistake I made that night, driving home, even though I wasn't intoxicated."

It's a lesson many think Little should have learned in October 1998, when the Lincoln Navigator he was driving in downtown St. Louis collided with a car driven by Susan Gutweiler of Oakville. Gutweiler, 47, was killed. Little admitted he was drinking, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, 90 nights in jail, and four years probation.

After the latest incident, Little said he will bring a designated driver with him if he ever goes out for a beer again.

"I guarantee you that," Little said. "But I doubt if I ever touch any alcohol at all again. It's not worth it. It's not worth my family. It's not worth my career. ... I've had plenty of time to think about it. And it's not worth it. So it's best for me not to do it at all, than to do it and get myself in another jam."

Little says he rarely drinks alcohol.

"Probably once a month," he said. "A lot of guys go out and they ask me to go out. I always stay home. I don't put myself in that environment too often. I'm always at home, usually watching TV. That's my best hobby - watching TV."

Of course, Little went out once too often in 1998. That year, several teammates took him out drinking on Oct. 19, the night of the drunken-driving fatality, to celebrate Little's 24th birthday.

"If I could take back what happened I would," Little said. "I'd give everything back. That was the dumbest decision I ever made in my life. It's going to weigh on me probably for the rest of my life.

"Whenever I leave this earth, it's going to stay with me. There's no day that I don't wake up, there's no day that I don't walk into that stadium, there's no day that I'm with my mom and my daughter that I don't think about it. I'm the person that was held accountable that night. And I failed."

Little said he still wants to meet with the Gutweiler family - minus the media and minus attorneys - to say he's sorry and to ask their forgiveness.

"I think it will help because they'll see how I really feel about the whole situation, instead of hearsay and stuff like that," Little said. "Put it out on the table, that's the only thing I can do. Hopefully, they'll accept it a little bit and just try to make things better.

"I try to put myself in their shoes, losing a mother. A mistake I made cost somebody their life. And that's hard to deal with. I know God has forgiven me for it. But have I forgiven myself for it? I don't think I ever will."

Even if he never meets the Gutweiler family, Little said he would like the general public to know, "that I'm not this heartless guy that doesn't care. ... I'm not just this machine that plays football and doesn't care about anything else but playing football."

Despite everything that has happened, Little says he can be a role model and a positive influence. In fact, he thinks that is his obligation. He already is involved in several charitable endeavors and community service efforts in North Carolina and St. Louis. He would like to do more.

As for those who think he has a drinking problem, or would be in jail if he wasn't an athlete, Little says:

"People can say anything they want to about it. But until they know me, until they've been around me, then all that stuff means a hill of beans. It's just opinions.

"This whole ordeal has made me so much stronger than I was before. People can say anything about me, and it doesn't bother me at all. Because I know deep down in my heart what type of person I am."

Simplex3 · 04-10-2005, 08:43 AM

Question: Do the StL cops have any freaking sobriety detection equipment? WTF? What is this dispute over whether he was drunk or not? If they'd had him blow or done a blood test they'd know.

Dumbasses.

04-10-2005, 08:44 AM

2 beers? Were they in a milk jug?

If he had nothing to hid, he'd have submitted to a blood test. It's really that simple. He can say anything he'd like in order to rehabilitate his image, but his actions have spoken louder. I'm not a fan - I don't want to know you, Leonard.

4th and Long · 04-10-2005, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phobia

2 beers? Were they in a milk jug?

If he had nothing to hid, he'd have submitted to a blood test. It's really that simple. He can say anything he'd like in order to rehabilitate his image, but his actions have spoken louder. I'm not a fan - I don't want to know you, Leonard.

Depending upon the time frame of consumption of the said 2 beers, they could have put him well over the legal limit of .08 in Missouri.

OmahaChief · 04-10-2005, 09:18 AM

I could care less if that piece of trash sounds sincere. He killed someone while driving drunk, he should not be drinking at ALL. He should be in jail already and then he goes out and does it again and is still not in jail. It is unbelivable how this society accepts drunk driving as being OK in some way. Why would a guy get a second chance after killing someone? Makes no sense to me.

I remember in college how myself and my fraternity brothers used them think it was so cool that we drove home after getting wasted. Our driving was better and all the other stupid crap we said. Then one night we got a call. A call from a mother of one of my fraternity brothers, Todd had been killed by a drunk driver that thought he should get on the interstate via an off ramp instead of his on ramp. He was doing 70 when he hit Todd. Todd was killed instantly. Since that night, I took a person oath not to drink and drive, it just really is not worth it. The thought of making some mother and father morn for their child would be more then I could bare. I still drink and have fun like the old days I am just smarter about it now.

Every time I come to KC for a Chiefs game I see these drunks get into their cars and drive away. I hope that next time anyone of us are in that position we think about it and call for a ride.

I know some of you will tell me to get off my soap box and that is fine but this is one soapbox I am proud to stand on. God Bless the family of the child killed by Leonard Little, the family of Todd Gibson and to all of those that have lost loved ones to drunk dirvers.

KCWolfman · 04-10-2005, 09:21 AM

Wow, that's great.

Sincere about killing a woman and then going out to commit the same scenario again with alcohol.

But hey, as long as he is sorry, that is all that matters, right?

**Bowser** · 04-10-2005, 09:26 AM

He had two fifteen feet beer bongs, that's all.

What a jackass, and that's an understatement.

KCWolfman · 04-10-2005, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simplex3

Question: Do the StL cops have any freaking sobriety detection equipment? WTF? What is this dispute over whether he was drunk or not? If they'd had him blow or done a blood test they'd know.

Dumbasses.

In the field, cops can only take one test. They make you blow into a kazoo like piece of plastic and it shows only negative or positive, not how much. I don't know what was done after with Little because there are a variety of tests that can be taken when back at the station.

**Bowser** · 04-10-2005, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCWolfman

In the field, cops can only take one test. They make you blow into a kazoo like piece of plastic and it shows only negative or positive, not how much. I don't know what was done after with Little because there are a variety of tests that can be taken when back at the station.

And I don't think they can force anyone to take any of the tests. But if you refuse all sobriety tests, you are charged with a DUI, I think. I could be wrong about that.

Where the hell is Baby Lee when you need him?

**the Talking Can** · 04-10-2005, 10:00 AM

well, God forgave him so we should too......[barf]......

**Rain Man** · 04-10-2005, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser

And I don't think they can force anyone to take any of the tests. But if you refuse all sobriety tests, you are charged with a DUI, I think. I could be wrong about that.

Where the hell is Baby Lee when you need him?

I don't know. We've never needed him before.

If Little is really sorry, then he shouldn't be blaming the police officer for having "an agenda" and saying that he wasn't drunk. Moron.

**Rain Man** · 04-10-2005, 12:44 PM

Nice post, omahachief.

KCWolfman · 04-10-2005, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser

And I don't think they can force anyone to take any of the tests. But if you refuse all sobriety tests, you are charged with a DUI, I think. I could be wrong about that.

Where the hell is Baby Lee when you need him?

I don't think you are charged, but you automatically lose your license.

Also, I believe that he took three separate tests. He had to get loose on a technicality as all three tests came back positive.

KCWolfman · 04-10-2005, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

well, God forgave him so we should too......[barf]......

Perhaps this will help
Defintion of Forgive
Definition of Punish

Most adults know the difference between the two words.

milkman · 04-10-2005, 12:53 PM

**** Leonard Little.
He should be strung up by his balls and never let down.

04-10-2005, 08:36 AM
dirk digler Please squeeze Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Clinton, MO Casino cash: $3014644	Leonard Little apologizes He actually sounds sincere. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...D?OpenDocument Leonard Little discusses his drunken driving arrest By Jim Thomas Of the Post-Dispatch 04/09/2005 Rams defensive end Leonard Little (HUY RICHARD MACH/P-D) Rams defensive end Leonard Little simply says he was with some friends the night of April 23, 2004. "Not players or anything like that," Little said Saturday. "But I was with some friends, and we were just hanging out. Listening to music. It wasn't anything wild or anything like that." Little's alcohol consumption that night? "Just two beers," Little said. Well after midnight on what became April 24, Little headed home on Highway 40. He lives in St. Charles, but had to drop off a friend first. "I was just trying to get home," he said. "I was tired. It was late. And I'm not usually up that late. I was just trying to get home. I saw the (police) lights behind me. I got pulled over to the side of the road." He was charged with speeding and drunken driving after being questioned by Ladue police officer Gregory Stork and given field sobriety tests. Little refused to submit to a breath analysis test at the Ladue police station, which would have pinpointed accurately his blood-alcohol content. Stork later would testify in court that there was no doubt in his mind that Little was drunk. Little's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, portrayed Stork as a police officer with an agenda of making as many DWI arrests as he could. "I don't have anything against the police officer," Little said. "He was a nice guy, but I think he just had bad intentions. That's the only comment I'll make about it. I'm not here to bash the police department, because I respect police and I respect authority." More than 11 months later - on April 1, 2005 - a St. Louis County jury found Little guilty of speeding but acquitted him of the felony drunken driving charge. Had he be found guilty of drunken driving, Little could have been sentenced to four years in jail under Missouri's persistent offender law because of a previous drunken driving offense, one that led to a fatality. He also could have been subject to suspension by the National Football League. While waiting nearly five hours for the verdict, Little kept reading a prayer given to his mother from James White, a pastor from back home. (Little is from Asheville, N.C.; White is from nearby Spartanburg, S.C.) "It said: 'Be strong and courageous. Don't be anxious. Live life anew.' Which means start a new life," Little said. "It really helped me out. God's given me confidence, and I had that faith that everything was going to work out fine." In his first comments to the media about the trial and about the 2004 arrest, Little told the Post-Dispatch: "The people that support me, and the people that know me, knew I wasn't intoxicated driving." Even so, Little conceded that having anything to drink and getting behind the wheel of his 2003 Mercedes, "was stupid on my part. That was a dumb mistake I made that night, driving home, even though I wasn't intoxicated." It's a lesson many think Little should have learned in October 1998, when the Lincoln Navigator he was driving in downtown St. Louis collided with a car driven by Susan Gutweiler of Oakville. Gutweiler, 47, was killed. Little admitted he was drinking, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, 90 nights in jail, and four years probation. After the latest incident, Little said he will bring a designated driver with him if he ever goes out for a beer again. "I guarantee you that," Little said. "But I doubt if I ever touch any alcohol at all again. It's not worth it. It's not worth my family. It's not worth my career. ... I've had plenty of time to think about it. And it's not worth it. So it's best for me not to do it at all, than to do it and get myself in another jam." Little says he rarely drinks alcohol. "Probably once a month," he said. "A lot of guys go out and they ask me to go out. I always stay home. I don't put myself in that environment too often. I'm always at home, usually watching TV. That's my best hobby - watching TV." Of course, Little went out once too often in 1998. That year, several teammates took him out drinking on Oct. 19, the night of the drunken-driving fatality, to celebrate Little's 24th birthday. "If I could take back what happened I would," Little said. "I'd give everything back. That was the dumbest decision I ever made in my life. It's going to weigh on me probably for the rest of my life. "Whenever I leave this earth, it's going to stay with me. There's no day that I don't wake up, there's no day that I don't walk into that stadium, there's no day that I'm with my mom and my daughter that I don't think about it. I'm the person that was held accountable that night. And I failed." Little said he still wants to meet with the Gutweiler family - minus the media and minus attorneys - to say he's sorry and to ask their forgiveness. "I think it will help because they'll see how I really feel about the whole situation, instead of hearsay and stuff like that," Little said. "Put it out on the table, that's the only thing I can do. Hopefully, they'll accept it a little bit and just try to make things better. "I try to put myself in their shoes, losing a mother. A mistake I made cost somebody their life. And that's hard to deal with. I know God has forgiven me for it. But have I forgiven myself for it? I don't think I ever will." Even if he never meets the Gutweiler family, Little said he would like the general public to know, "that I'm not this heartless guy that doesn't care. ... I'm not just this machine that plays football and doesn't care about anything else but playing football." Despite everything that has happened, Little says he can be a role model and a positive influence. In fact, he thinks that is his obligation. He already is involved in several charitable endeavors and community service efforts in North Carolina and St. Louis. He would like to do more. As for those who think he has a drinking problem, or would be in jail if he wasn't an athlete, Little says: "People can say anything they want to about it. But until they know me, until they've been around me, then all that stuff means a hill of beans. It's just opinions. "This whole ordeal has made me so much stronger than I was before. People can say anything about me, and it doesn't bother me at all. Because I know deep down in my heart what type of person I am."
Posts: 66,395

04-10-2005, 08:43 AM	#2
Simplex3 MVP Join Date: Sep 2003 Casino cash: $10004900	Question: Do the StL cops have any freaking sobriety detection equipment? WTF? What is this dispute over whether he was drunk or not? If they'd had him blow or done a blood test they'd know. Dumbasses.
Posts: 28,527

04-10-2005, 08:44 AM	#3
Phobia Guest Casino cash: $	2 beers? Were they in a milk jug? If he had nothing to hid, he'd have submitted to a blood test. It's really that simple. He can say anything he'd like in order to rehabilitate his image, but his actions have spoken louder. I'm not a fan - I don't want to know you, Leonard.
Posts: n/a

04-10-2005, 09:18 AM	#5
OmahaChief Down with Nino Brown Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Omaha Casino cash: $9425000	I could care less if that piece of trash sounds sincere. He killed someone while driving drunk, he should not be drinking at ALL. He should be in jail already and then he goes out and does it again and is still not in jail. It is unbelivable how this society accepts drunk driving as being OK in some way. Why would a guy get a second chance after killing someone? Makes no sense to me. I remember in college how myself and my fraternity brothers used them think it was so cool that we drove home after getting wasted. Our driving was better and all the other stupid crap we said. Then one night we got a call. A call from a mother of one of my fraternity brothers, Todd had been killed by a drunk driver that thought he should get on the interstate via an off ramp instead of his on ramp. He was doing 70 when he hit Todd. Todd was killed instantly. Since that night, I took a person oath not to drink and drive, it just really is not worth it. The thought of making some mother and father morn for their child would be more then I could bare. I still drink and have fun like the old days I am just smarter about it now. Every time I come to KC for a Chiefs game I see these drunks get into their cars and drive away. I hope that next time anyone of us are in that position we think about it and call for a ride. I know some of you will tell me to get off my soap box and that is fine but this is one soapbox I am proud to stand on. God Bless the family of the child killed by Leonard Little, the family of Todd Gibson and to all of those that have lost loved ones to drunk dirvers.
Posts: 3,616

04-10-2005, 09:21 AM	#6
KCWolfman Fall down 7 times, get up 8 Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $10004900	Wow, that's great. Sincere about killing a woman and then going out to commit the same scenario again with alcohol. But hey, as long as he is sorry, that is all that matters, right? __________________ How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words! Samuel Adams
Posts: 15,469

04-10-2005, 09:26 AM	#7
Bowser sorta mod-ish Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: KC North Casino cash: $3201616	He had two fifteen feet beer bongs, that's all. What a jackass, and that's an understatement.
Posts: 101,054

04-10-2005, 10:00 AM	#10
the Talking Can Supporter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: street Casino cash: $10022208	well, God forgave him so we should too......[barf]...... __________________ Clark Hunt: "Thank god for the Dominican pool boy"
Posts: 51,585

04-10-2005, 12:44 PM	#12
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3048491 VARSITY	Nice post, omahachief. __________________ I'm putting random letters here as a celebration of free speech: xigrakgrah misorojeq rkemeseit.
Posts: 141,663

04-10-2005, 12:53 PM	#15
milkman Dumbass! Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Leading the Marty bashing Casino cash: $10029395	**** Leonard Little. He should be strung up by his balls and never let down. __________________
Posts: 70,769