Jun 8, 2011 | 2 min read

The case for Kyle Busch

When I first started practice, there were no public defenders. Young lawyers handled most of the criminal cases. I handled several 1^st degree murder cases in my first few years of practice.

Now I only handle personal injury cases, but I was thinking: How would I defend Kyle Busch?

_{Getty Images for NASCAR}

You’ve almost certainly heard the story. NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was charged with reckless driving by a sheriff’s deputy in Iredell County, North Carolina on May 24^th, 2011.

Busch was driving a $350,000 Lexus LFA sports car 128 mph through a residential area marked with a 45-mph speed limit. He was stopped on a winding road where there are several neighborhoods, a church and a day-care nearby.

What possible excuse could there be for driving 83 mph over the speed limit through a place like that?

Under structured sentencing laws, Busch is probably facing zero jail time, a small fine, and maybe some community service.

But our client is not really Kyle Busch.

Our real clients are Joe Gibbs Racing and NASCAR.

It will probably cost Kyle’s boss and NASCAR untold millions if public opinion is so strong they have to yank him out of the No. 18 Toyota.

With that in mind, here is how I would defend this case.

First, when Busch appears in court, he has to acknowledge up front how terrible a thing he did, and that his action could have cost lives.

Then he should voluntarily submit to a punishment more severe than the court could impose.

He should unconditionally surrender his driver’s license for a period of 5 years.
He should perform 500 hours of community service, speaking to youth groups about the dangers and consequences of reckless driving and speeding.
He should pay into the court $50,000 to be used to employ the Institute of Government to propose legislation making it a felony to speed on a public roadway in excess of 100 mph. After all, that’s merely twice the fine he had to pay to NASCAR for his dust-up with Kevin Harvick at Darlington.

If Busch would voluntarily submit to the above punishment, I would hope that it would take would take the heat off of Joe Gibbs and NASCAR to punish him further. It would represent a serious effort to heal the outrage of NASCAR’s fans, and put a good face back on stock car racing.