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The fine folks at TMZ.com report that Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart won’t be investigated for providing alcohol to underage females.
Regardless of whether he did.
The Sheriff of Maricopa County tells TMZ.com that pictures aren’t enough evidence to charge someone with a crime.
Sure they’re not. But they can provide the framework for some, you know, actual police work.
As we’ve said before, the inherent discretion possessed by law enforcement highlights the biggest flaw with the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy. In Mike Vick’s case, for example, Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter (we actually miss typing his name four times a day) might have never done a thing if the feds hadn’t gotten involved. In turn, Vick would still be among the free, and playing football.
In Leinart’s case, there’s no basis for federal jurisdiction. So if the local boys aren’t going to take any action against the starting quarterback of the resident NFL team, then nothing will come of it.
Regardless of whether Leinart’s actions broke any laws.
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:44 pm
So according to Florio…
Drinking beer with girls: Bad!
Spitting in a Steeler Fan’s food: Good!
There’s no proof, nor has there been any assertion, that the women in question are underage. If I were Leinart, I’d do the same thing and so would the vast majority of us. He’s a young, wealthy, successful athlete… let the guy live his life.
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Rating: 2.85 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Oh boo hoo. Why is this written as if Leinhart SHOULD be investigated? Surely the local authorities have better things to do.
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Rating: 3.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
There is no evidence shown of any laws being broken. Moreover, there is no evidence present that Matt Leinart even bought the alcohol shown in the picture.
Innocent until proven guilty.
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I myself was shocked and appauled to find out the Lienart gave those girls their very first drink of alcohol.he should be kicked out of the league and burned at the stake for corrupting their innocence.
Seriously, these were college girls, hot college girls. Does anybody think that they don’t do this sort of thing every weekend? Anybody ever been to a frat party?
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Rating: 3.75 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
What a pointless waste of resources to investigate a 23 year old for potentially providing booze to 20 year old college girls. It’s not like he was electrocuting dogs in his back yard. Let’s not sit around trying to gossip about the fact that Leinart is partying in the offseason. There’s nothing to this and it would just be ridiculous to investigate something so trivial.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Nice! Speaking as a Maricopa County resident familiar with the Gestapo tactics of Sheriff Joe it’s safe to report that Jose is far too busy harrassing those folks who appear Mexican in origin and may or may not be illegally in these fine United States to participate in “some, you know, actual police work.” We’ve a backlog of as many as 70,000 outstanding warrants (according to published reports) that are systematically disregarded as Mr. Jose chases the spotlight.
Matt may or may not bear investigation, but that will have to occur in some other jurisdiction.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I’m not a policeman nor an attorney, so I may be missing something obvious. But wouldn’t this turn into a classic “he said, she said” if the underage girls in the photos were to make claims or testify that Leinhart provided the alcohol. Even with the photos, the local DA’s office would be going against some top dollar attorneys to dispute these claims, so it wouldn’t be worthwhile to pursue a conviction considering the cost vs. payoff of it.
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Rating: 3.75 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Without a complaint filed by someone who has personal knowledge of a potential crime being committed by Leinert, there won’t/shouldn’t be an investigation. The mere fact that pictures surfaced on the internet of Matt and some women partying (all parties presumably of adult age) in what appears to be his backyard is a ridiculous reason to launch any investigation. What’s next? Religious police? Thank God for the level-headedness of the local law enforcement officials.
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
whether or not Matt plays, Im still taking the under on season wins for Arizona at 5.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Consider me one of those not too worried about a 23 year old possibly drinking with some 19 and 20 year olds. I know the Chris Henry situation was mentioned this morning, but I believe those girls were underage as in under the age of 18, which is a different story altogether. Partying with hot college chicks is what you’re supposed to do when you’re young, handsome, and rich. I mean, come on, the police could focus on college-aged drinking and make hourly busts, but I think they have more important things to look after. Which is probably why they don’t care.
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
To make an exception for Leinart would mean that the Police would have to set up a Facebook account and arrest roughly 1.5 million college students.
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Rating: 4.15 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Joe Arpaio, the toughest sheriff in America, won’t investigate? Something doesn’t smell right.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
So you’re equating dog fighting to providing alcohol to college girls. Florio, you sir are a shmuck. You only think its important for the police to investigate because he is an NFL QB. Should the police be combing over facebook and investigating every picture for signs of adults providing alcohol to minors? You should keep your opinions out of stories because more often than not you come across like an idiot.
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I’d say the biggest flaw with the Personal Conduct Policy is that people seem to think it’s something the NFL should have to do. We already have a system to punish these players, it’s known as the criminal justice system. The NFL should not have to expend effort culling the criminals from the league. The justice system should do that. If the justice system is too broken/corrupt to convict the rich and famous, maybe we should concentrate on improving that system.
I guess it’s a lot easier to crucify the NFL for not doing more than to sit back and take a long look at a problem that has plagued our country since it’s inception. The people who should be catching the majority of the fire are the police, DAs, and judges that allow the rich/famous to circumvent the justice system. The NFL wouldn’t have to discipline these players if they were in jail, like I would certainly be if I exhibited the same behavior.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I am all for investigations when the cause is worthy but in this case an investigation would clearly be a waste of tax dollars. Leinart shouldnt be compared to, or have his name listed with Mike Vick just because he is having a little fun with college girls who are presumed to be underage. When I see articles like this on what I think is a fantastic site I start to wonder about the motives. Dont playa hate…should he card every girl he meets at a private party?
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
For those defending Leinhart and his actions…ask yourself this…would you feel any different if those were your daughters? But by what you write, I’ll assume you haven’t crossed that bridge yet.
Flash forward 30 years…Leinhart being interviewed on the sidelines by an attractive reporter named Suzy….”ahhhh Suzy, you sure are pretty…I just wanna kiss you”….
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Rating: 1.4 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Spanky07,
I have to say I wish they were my daughters, those girls were going to do that stuff either way, but at least now I can sue Matt and his $1 Million Dollars.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
If they were high school girls, this would be a whole different discussion, but they aren’t and for all we know they all could be 21. This is such a non-issue it isn’t even funny. What exactly is there to investigate by the way? Seriously, let’s waste our law enforcement’s resources investigating whether some guy gave some beer to some girls who we aren’t even sure aren’t old enough to drink anyway. Who’s to say that these girls weren’t the ones that brought the beer to his house in the first place. I didn’t know sitting in a hot tub with a couple girls was a crime.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
spanky07, no I wouldn’t feel any different.
Why? Because I’d say that roughly 90% of all women who go to college have pictures of them drinking at a party underage. It’s how you makes friends and be social. None of which makes you an alcoholic.
Were you and your girlfriend or wife ever 18 to 20 yrs old? Or was it so long ago the legal age was 18, which makes it better of course.
The only culprit here is Nick, he’s too old to be college partying. Leinart gets a pass, he’s only a couple yrs removed.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Spanky…”assume” that I have crossed that bridge! However, daughters do grow up and make decisions both good and bad. I didn’t see anything in those pictures that my older daughter hasn’t done, and if drinking beer or sitting co-ed in a hot tub is the worst thing that happens to your girls, you’ll come away pretty blessed. Ya gotta let them go sometime…
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
EaglesFan said it great - might as well go out arresting all the college students on facebook that have booze in their pictures - that should just about occupy everybodies time quite nicely.
Hey, if this was a Leinart party that got busted with under 21 girls drinking at it - then there might be something worth mentioning… but parties like this go on all the time.
Maybe this highlights the silliness of the law in the first place, but hey lets move on.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
There’s no evidence to support an investigation, unless that girl drinking from the beer bong is the one reported to be under 21. A picture of four girls in a hot tub (some of whom may or may not be under 21), and another picture of a girl drinking beer with Leinart does not suggest that the girls in the hottub (whatever their age) were also drinking.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I’m still waiting to hear a logical reason on why it’s so much worse for Henry to be with 18 year olds than Leinart with 20 year olds. Someone said there’s “a world of difference”??
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
You’ve been watching too much of The Wire. They’re not going to launch an investigation and wiretap into something so minor with all the other worries in Arizona. Whether or not a 20 year old girl drank beer isn’t very high on the list of crimes to solve in most US cities. Especially not when your only evidence are a few photos.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I don’t understand the ripping of Florio on this one. Suppose a 19-year-old gets drunk at this party, then kills somebody while driving home? There’s definitely the potential for trouble here, though I think the NFL should stay out of this business — leave it to the cops and courts.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)