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Former Yanks and short-term Sox catcher Jim Leyritz was involved in a vehicle accident in Florida in 2007 where he ran a red light and killed the driver of the other vehicle. Leyritz's blood-alcohol level was .14 during the time of the accident.
His trial will likely be short and could face up to 15 years in prision as reported by the Associated Press.
National Post via AP
Stefanie Newman, an assistant state attorney, told a jury that a toxicology expert estimated Leyritz’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the December 2007 crash was 0.18, based on a blood test taken about three hours later that found a 0.14 level. Florida’s legal limit is 0.08.
A Vitamin Water bottle found in Leyritz’s sports-utility vehicle tested positive for alcohol and it also contained Leyritz’s DNA, Newman said in an opening statement. She added that a police video shows Leyritz had difficulties with a field sobriety test even though he was not “falling-down drunk.”
“Pay close attention to that video: what you will see is a man who is being given instructions and can’t follow those instructions,” Newman told jurors.
Leyritz, 46, faces between four and 15 years in prison if convicted in the death of 30-year-old Fredia Ann Veitch, a mother of two who was thrown from her vehicle by the force of the rollover crash. Leyritz attorney David Bogenschutz said he will give an opening statement later in the trial.
