Tony Stewart case involving driver’s death to be sent to grand jury

Tony Stewart could face criminal charges stemming from a race last month when a car driven by the three-time NASCAR champion struck and killed a fellow driver who was on foot during a sprint-car race in upstate New York.

Michael Tantillo, the district attorney in Ontario County, N.Y., said in a statement Tuesday he planned to send evidence in the Stewart case to a state grand jury “in the near future.”

After examining the evidence and listening to witnesses, a grand jury would determine whether Stewart, 43, should be indicted on any criminal charges in the death of fellow driver Kevin Ward Jr. or decide the case does not merit an indictment.

Sending the case to the grand jury “means the prosecutor already made the determination that there’s enough evidence to charge someone with a felony,” said Lauryn Gouldin, an assistant professor of law at Syracuse (N.Y.) University.

Tantillo did not specify what potential charges might be involved, although there has been speculation they might include various manslaughter or negligent-homicide charges.

The fatality occurred Aug. 9 during a sprint-car race — which are unrelated to NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series — at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park dirt track.

Stewart and 20-year-old Ward were racing side-by-side when Ward’s car crashed into the fence. Ward got out of his car, stood on the track and appeared to be angrily pointing at Stewart when he was struck and killed by Stewart’s car as Stewart circled back around.

An amateur video that captured the incident went viral on the Internet and it sparked an intense public debate about who might have been at fault.

The office of Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero recently completed its investigation of the incident and turned its findings over to Tantillo.

“There’s no reason to go to a grand jury if you’ve decided there’s no case,” said Michael Brennan, clinical law professor at the USC Gould School of Law.

Stewart, who has not commented publicly on details of the incident, issued a statement Tuesday, saying “I look forward to this process being completed, and I will continue to provide my full cooperation.”

Stewart-Haas Racing, the NASCAR team Stewart co-owns, said Stewart planned to drive Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Stewart sat out three Cup races after the tragedy but has driven in the series’ last three races.

NASCAR said it was monitoring the situation and staying in “close contact” with Stewart-Haas Racing but that it “would be inappropriate for NASCAR to comment on this case.”

Tantillo said because grand jury proceedings in New York state are confidential, he could not say “who will be called as witnesses or what any witness’ expected testimony will be.”

However, it’s rare that prosecutors call potential defendants such as Stewart to testify before grand juries, said attorney Tucker Stanclift, an officer in the criminal justice section of the New York State Bar Assn.

Grand juries in New York state have at least 16 and no more than 23 members, and 12 of them have to vote to indict on a particular charge — a unanimous vote is not required, Stanclift said. The grand jury can take anywhere from days to weeks to reach a decision, he said.