Bad News for Cards' Spiezio

[backwardsk]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Aoe5i9XhykAbnzRzL5zkPxc5nYcB?slug=ap-cardinals-spiezio-warrant&prov=ap&type=lgns

Getting his name in the news for all the wrong reasons...

Migrant Redbird, any inside information to what he's been struggling with besides alcohol?

[giantfan]

Well it actuallly got worse, the cards released him today.

[Migrant Redbird]

Migrant Redbird, any inside information to what he's been struggling with besides alcohol?

No, all the articles about Sciezio's rehab last fall just stated that it was for "substance abuse". As a member of a "hard rock" band, suspicion would naturally tend toward other illegal drugs, but I'm not aware of any specific rumors regarding Spiezio. I read a lot of fan speculation, but nothing which seems worth passing along.

Reporters are going to be pestering Scott Rolen every day this spring for details about the feud between him and La Russa. For the most part, Rolen tries to downplay it, but he made some curious comments which recently appeared in an article at MLB.com.

"What I want to say about the manager is that we're different people with different morals," Rolen said.

"Different morals" is a rather odd term to use and some of us have been debating on the Cardinals forum about what it meant. I suggested that it might have something to do with the reputation which the Cardinals seem to have acquired in recent years as a "party team", as illustrated with the Josh Hancock tragedy, and Rolen might have felt that La Russa didn't do enough to influence players' personal lives. It's all just speculation, though.

There's also a more recent Post Dispatch article. which discusses the Rolen - La Russa spat, but it doesn't shed any light on the "different morals" comment or the team's party hearty life style.

[byrdz]

Partying is one thing, driving drunk (the very thing that took the life of a player on his team) is another. That may be where the "moral" statement comes from, lead by example.

[CamdenChick]

This makes me really sad because I like Scott Spiezio alot. I know that he was devistated by Hancock's death, I believe he was the one who had to call Hancock's girlfriend and tell her what happened, and I think he had to sit a game or two afterwards. It makes me wonder, considering how close of friends they were, if maybe, just MAYBE his drinking/substance using was something he and Hancock shared? I mean just considering Hancock died drunk and high. Just a thought. I was really upset by Hancock's death as well. I mean regardless of the circumstances it's sad for anyone to die that young. I was especially pissed about how BEFORE the autopsy results came back, everyone talked up Josh Hancock, and said all these great things about him. And as soon as they found out he was drunk, there went that. It's just all very sad to me.

[Migrant Redbird]

There was a story last summer, which I can't confirm and won't reveal my source, that some of the Cardinals players went to Hancock's apartment following his death and "sanitized" it of everything illegal before the police arrived. The implication is that Hancock was doing recreational drugs (the autopsy verified marijuana) and his buddies knew about it, which also implies that they were probably doing that too. Assuming that this is true, it's possible that Spiezio was one of those players. My source wouldn't identify the players who cleaned up Hancock's apartment and, as I said, I can't confirm her story.

People love inside information, which can make the temptation to manufacture it or to "enhance" existing information almost irresistible. My source seems credible, but her information was apparently 2nd or 3rd hand and could have received some of that "enhancement".

[CamdenChick]

There was a story last summer, which I can't confirm and won't reveal my source, that some of the Cardinals players went to Hancock's apartment following his death and "sanitized" it of everything illegal before the police arrived. The implication is that Hancock was doing recreational drugs (the autopsy verified marijuana) and his buddies knew about it, which also implies that they were probably doing that too. Assuming that this is true, it's possible that Spiezio was one of those players. My source wouldn't identify the players who cleaned up Hancock's apartment and, as I said, I can't confirm her story.

People love inside information, which can make the temptation to manufacture it or to "enhance" existing information almost irresistible. My source seems credible, but her information was apparently 2nd or 3rd hand and could have received some of that "enhancement".

True about the possibility of enhancement. But wow. I mean - ok say this story is true -- do you think the players were "cleaning out" his apartment for their own good, or to try and protect what little is left of his reputation?

[Ruzious]

Spiezio was entering the final season of a two-year, $4.5 million contract. He was released the same way most players are cut, for failure “to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability.”

That means the Cardinals owe him this year’s $2.3 million salary plus a $100,000 buyout of a $2.5 million team option for 2009—because of that, the likelihood of a grievance by the players’ union is small.

It's a real shame that he's getting anything. If he's guilty, there's just no excuse for his unbelievably bad decision-making.

[Boy Howdy]

Interesting details about the aftermath of Spiezio's accident here:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/ADC06E002808D7B0862573FF0020FF79?OpenDocument

The records gave this account: Jennifer Spiezio answered the door and said police couldn't speak to her husband because he was asleep, sick with pneumonia. She told them she would check on him but came back a minute later and said she didn't want to wake him.

After police told her they believed her husband had been injured in a crash, she said they could come in but that she wanted to wake him first. She returned crying, said he wasn't in the room and that she didn't know where he'd gone but that they could look for him.

Three officers went inside and couldn't find him. "However," one report reads, "there was what appeared to be a storage closet that we were unable to gain entry into. … It seemed that the door was being held shut from the inside, or was locked from the inside."

Another report read: "It is believed that Scott Spiezio was hiding behind this door."

[byrdz]

Interesting details about the aftermath of Spiezio's accident here:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/ADC06E002808D7B0862573FF0020FF79?OpenDocument

The records gave this account: Jennifer Spiezio answered the door and said police couldn't speak to her husband because he was asleep, sick with pneumonia. She told them she would check on him but came back a minute later and said she didn't want to wake him.

After police told her they believed her husband had been injured in a crash, she said they could come in but that she wanted to wake him first. She returned crying, said he wasn't in the room and that she didn't know where he'd gone but that they could look for him.

Three officers went inside and couldn't find him. "However," one report reads, "there was what appeared to be a storage closet that we were unable to gain entry into. … It seemed that the door was being held shut from the inside, or was locked from the inside."

Another report read: "It is believed that Scott Spiezio was hiding behind this door."

LoL, what?! This is the most bizarre thing ever, it's not like he killed someone. Why doesn't he just turn himself in and why can't three police officers overpower one man holding door shut?

[OrangeJerseys]

LoL, what?! This is the most bizarre thing ever, it's not like he killed someone. Why doesn't he just turn himself in and why can't three police officers overpower one man holding door shut?

Panic Room?

[Migrant Redbird]

LoL, what?! This is the most bizarre thing ever, it's not like he killed someone. Why doesn't he just turn himself in and why can't three police officers overpower one man holding door shut?

They probably didn't have a warrant. Without a warrant, they'd need permission from the owner to force a door that was locked or "stuck".

True about the possibility of enhancement. But wow. I mean - ok say this story is true -- do you think the players were "cleaning out" his apartment for their own good, or to try and protect what little is left of his reputation?

I'd prefer not to speculate. It's bad enough that I'm reporting unconfirmed "gossip". I don't know who the players were, or what they thought needed to be "cleaned" from his apartment. Could have been drugs; could have been illicit substance containers carrying their own fingerprints.

Might not have been anything at all; his apartment might have been "cleaner" than they expected. The autopsy picked up marijuana in his system, but I don't think it was all that recent, so maybe alcohol was the only thing Hancock was abusing at the time?

[CamdenChick]

I thought he was high during the crash? Or not, maybe they found pot in his car I can't remember.

Hiding in a closet? Logically you'd think "Dude, just turn yourself in." but if you're that trashed or high, then you don't really know what's what anyway. You're just more afraid of getting caught than anything.

[TGO]

They probably didn't have a warrant. Without a warrant, they'd need permission from the owner to force a door that was locked or "stuck".

Illinois v. Rodriguez. If one occupant (Mr. Spiezio) of a house is in the house but doesn't present himself to object to a search, the other occupant (Mrs. Spiezio) can consent to a search even if Mr. Spiezio would object.

Now, if while they were banging on the door, Mr. Spiezio shouted "I'm Scott Spiezio and you cannot enter this room without a warrant," the police would have to leave. Georgia v. Randolph. Police cannot search without a warrant if one occupant consents but the other objects.

[Migrant Redbird]

Illinois v. Rodriguez. If one occupant (Mr. Spiezio) of a house is in the house but doesn't present himself to object to a search, the other occupant (Mrs. Spiezio) can consent to a search even if Mr. Spiezio would object.

There's a difference between an authorized search and breaking down a "stuck" door.