St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Because of a prior guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter, St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little was charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court today with felony drunk driving.
In warrants issued this afternoon, Little, 29, of St. Charles, was also accused of speeding, a misdemeanor. Ladue police alleged that Little's 2003 Mercedes was clocked at 78 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone on Highway 40 near Lindbergh Boulevard.
A probable cause statement filed by police said Little had bloodshot and watery eyes, smelled of alcohol and failed three sobriety tests after he was stopped early Saturday morning. The statement said Little admitted to drinking alcoholic beverages.
Little turned himself in on the new charges this afternoon at the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton. He was freed after posting a bond of $7,500.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said Little would get no special prosecutorial treatment.
Little was charged under a law passed in 2001 that makes a drunk driving offense a felony if a person has a prior history of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
In June 1999, Little pleaded guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Susan Gutweiler in downtown St. Louis on Oct. 19 ,1998. Little got 90 days in jail and four years of probation in that case.
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers picketed the Edward Jones Dome -- home of the Rams -- when Little played his first game in 1999 after serving an eight-game suspension. The organization protested again Monday, fearing lenient treatment for a professional athlete while criticizing Little for dredging up painful memories for the Gutweiler family.
"Once again, families' lives are being torn apart," said Mike Boland, MADD Missouri's board chairman. "This reopened wounds that are unbelievable."
Because of a prior guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter, St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little was charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court today with felony drunk driving.
In warrants issued this afternoon, Little, 29, of St. Charles, was also accused of speeding, a misdemeanor. Ladue police alleged that Little's 2003 Mercedes was clocked at 78 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone on Highway 40 near Lindbergh Boulevard.
A probable cause statement filed by police said Little had bloodshot and watery eyes, smelled of alcohol and failed three sobriety tests after he was stopped early Saturday morning. The statement said Little admitted to drinking alcoholic beverages.
Little turned himself in on the new charges this afternoon at the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton. He was freed after posting a bond of $7,500.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said Little would get no special prosecutorial treatment.
Little was charged under a law passed in 2001 that makes a drunk driving offense a felony if a person has a prior history of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
In June 1999, Little pleaded guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Susan Gutweiler in downtown St. Louis on Oct. 19 ,1998. Little got 90 days in jail and four years of probation in that case.
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers picketed the Edward Jones Dome -- home of the Rams -- when Little played his first game in 1999 after serving an eight-game suspension. The organization protested again Monday, fearing lenient treatment for a professional athlete while criticizing Little for dredging up painful memories for the Gutweiler family.
"Once again, families' lives are being torn apart," said Mike Boland, MADD Missouri's board chairman. "This reopened wounds that are unbelievable."
