Could Charlotte Incident Impact The Tony Stewart Civil Case?

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway many Tony Stewart fans rejoiced when they saw him back his No. 14 machine into Brad Keselowski. Keselowski who accidentally made contact with Stewart while attempting to make contact with Matt Kenseth received a pancaked front end thanks to Stewart. The moment was nice in that it brought out some of the old Stewart that the fans feared they might never see again in the wake of the Kevin Ward Jr. accident. Although the moment was nice to see in the eyes of many, it’s a moment that could also hurt Stewart in the near future.

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Stewart will soon (in all likelihood) have to deal with a civil lawsuit and a wrongful death suit by the Ward family. Earlier this week NBC Sports legal analyst Jack Furlong was asked whether or not Stewart’s actions on Saturday night could have an impact on a civil case.

"It absolutely could. If you’re Tony Stewart’s lawyer you’re saying to him run Tony, run. There is a federal evidence rule; it’s the one that’s pretty much used around the country known as evidence rule 404B. It says when you are considering for example a wrongful death case, was the guy negligent? Was he reckless? Was he at fault in the collision between himself and the pedestrian even when on a hot track? We look to other bad acts, other examples of distemper, and other examples of acting recklessly on a track. That can be before the incident and that can be after the incident. If I’m Tony’s lawyer I am saying to him run the other way, you cannot be in a confrontation because this will come back to haunt you and it absolutely could in this instance."

The good news for Stewart is that another confrontation before the end of the season is unlikely seeing as how NASCAR has placed him on probation for the next four races. Even though Stewart can never be found responsible for the death of Kevin Ward Jr. on a criminal level, he can still be found responsible from a civil level and as a result Stewart needs to be careful until this case plays itself out. You may recall that OJ Simpson was found innocent in criminal court but he was then found responsible for the death of his wife in civil court. These sort of outcomes are quite common as the burden of proof in civil court is far less than that of criminal court. Criminal court needs to be without doubt in regards to proof whilst in civil court you only have to tip the scales slightly.

As many people have said including Stewart himself, this tragic accident is going to be with him for the rest of his life. Saturday night at Charlotte is just one example of that. Eventually things will calm down around Stewart but that most likely will not happen until the potential civil lawsuit is resolved.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.

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