Former New York Yankee Jim Leyritz Trial Continues
As I had previously posted, the trial judge excluded any evidence that the victim, Ms. Veitch, had been drinking that evening. However, on Wednesday, Leyritz's attorney repeatedly asked Kevin Lane, a friend of Ms. Veitch, questions about how much Ms. Veitch had to drink. The Prosecutor (who was admitted to practice almost 20 years ago) apparently failed to object to these questions, angering Judge Gold, who nevertheless allowed the case to proceed, rather than declare a mistrial. However, the damage may have been done, as the jury has now heard that Ms. Veitch had plenty to drink that night, which is not relevant to the determination as to whether Leyritz is guilty of manslaughter.
Later in the day, Bruce Barger, a front seat passenger in Leyritz's car at the time of the accident, surprisingly testified that Leyritz did not drive through a red light, but rather the light turned yellow when Leyritz was 10 feet from the "stop bar". Prior to the trial, it had been reported that Mr. Barger was going to testify that Leyritz ran the red light, because that it what he told police. The Prosecutor surprisingly did not cross examine Mr. Barger on his differing testimony. Mr. Barger added that Leyritz was not looking at the road when the light turned yellow, and instead was looking down, such that Mr. Barger had to alert Leyritz that the light turned yellow. Of course, if this testimony is accurate, it casts doubt upon whether Ms. Veitch had a green light - her light could not have turned green until after Leyritz' light turned red.
On Thursday, there was conflicting testimony among officers and the nurse that drew Leyritz's blood, as to whether Leyritz was exhibiting signs of intoxication. This could seemingly create reasonable doubt as to whether Leyritz was intoxicated, except that Leyritz was given a blood test, which is very difficult to challenge and much more reliable than a breathalyzer test. It appears that Leyritz failed the field sobriety test, and that alone would give the police probable cause to test Leyritz's blood alcohol level. Thus, the defense's best strategy should be to sieze on the differing accounts as to whether Leyritz drove through a red light, as the Prosecution must prove that Leyritz's actions caused or contributed to Ms. Veitch's death.
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.