Little to appeal speeding conviction, probation

CLAYTON, Mo. -- St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little -- acquitted last month of felony drunken driving -- plans to appeal a related misdemeanor speeding conviction and the resulting sentence of two years of probation.

Little's attorneys notified authorities this week of their plan to appeal, including the probation requirement that Little not consume alcohol, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.

A St. Louis County jury convicted Little of driving his 2003 Mercedes at 78 mph in a 55-mph zone on westbound Interstate 64 in Ladue on April 24, 2004. The drunken-driving allegation was a felony because Little had pleaded guilty in 1999 to manslaughter in a fatal crash.

During last month's sentencing, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett O'Brien rejected a prosecutor's request that Little get 30 days of "shock time" in jail. But O'Brien emphasized that the 30-year-old athlete may not consume alcohol as a condition of his probation, and that if he does he'll get six months in jail.

Ladue police officer Gregory Stork alleged that Little flunked three field sobriety tests. But at trial, defense attorney Scott Rosenblum said Stork didn't follow proper procedures in administering the tests.

Little refused to take a breath analysis test at the Ladue police station.

In the deadly 1998 wreck, Little ran a stoplight in downtown St. Louis and collided with a car driven by Susan Gutweiler, 47, of suburban St. Louis, who was killed.