Tony Stewart may have to face a jury of his peers after all. After a month long investigation into the death of Kevin Ward, which included several fan videos from Canandaigua Speedway, Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo has submitted evidence to a grand jury for an indictment. Tantillo released a statement this afternoon.
Over the past several weeks I have reviewed with members of the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department their investigation, as it progressed, in the Tony Stewart matter. Recently that office concluded its work and forwarded the complete case file to me. Upon my review of all of the information contained in the entire investigation, I have made the determination that it would be appropriate to submit the evidence to a grand jury, for their determination as to what action should be taken in this matter. Accordingly, the evidence developed in the investigation will be presented to an Ontario County grand jury in the near future.
As grand jury proceedings in New York State are strictly confidential by law, I am unable to state when the matter will be scheduled, other than to state that I intend to present the matter in the near future. Similarly, because of the confidential nature of these proceedings, I cannot state who will be called as witnesses, or what any witness’s expected testimony will be. When the presentation has been completed and a determination has been made, I will advise the public and the media at that time of the results.
Tony Stewart just released a statement of his own.
“I respect the time and effort spent by both the Ontario County District Attorney and the Sheriff’s Office in investigating this tragic accident. I look forward to this process being completed, and I will continue to provide my full cooperation.”
I’m not a legal expert but having watched Law and Order for 15 years, I feel like I can speak intelligently on the subject. Ok, no I can’t. For what it’s worth, the talking heads on Twitter say the DA’s statement suggests there’s evidence on both sides of the case.
@ClayTravisBGID Former felony prosecutor. We would only take a no-stand position on an extremely close case w/compelling facts on each side
— artie_mclaughlin (@artiemclaughlin) September 16, 2014
So there’s that. The grand jury can choose to indict or dismiss. We should know in a few days either way.
