Leyritz Sentenced

Former professional baseball player Jim Leyritz was sentenced today in a high-profile case in which he was acquitted of manslaughter following a car accident in 2007 that left one woman dead.  Leyritz was on his way home from a birthday celebration at a Florida bar when he allegedly ran a red light at an intersection and collided with another vehicle.  The vehicle's occupant, Frieda Ann Veitch, was not wearing a seatbelt and thrown from her car.  Veitch died from her injuries.  Prosecutors in the case sought to convict Leyritz of manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), but were unable to convince the jury after evidence was given that Veitch was herself driving under the influence of alcohol and witnesses at the scene of the accident could not be certain that the light in Leyritz's lane had actually been red when he crossed the intersection. 

The jury also found that samples of Leyritz's blood had possibly been mishandled by the laboratory that checked for blood alcohol content and may have been inaccurate.  While Leyritz was acquitted of manslaughter last month, he was convicted on one count of misdemeanor driving under the influence, his first such violation.  A judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida sentenced Leyritz last Thursday to one year of probation and fined $500.  Had Leyritz been found guilty of manslaughter, he may have been sent to a Florida state prison for up to 15 years. 

If you have been arrested for DUI, find an experienced Los Angeles DUI defense attorney right away.  Dealing with the criminal justice system in this city can be an intimidating experience and can have a profound effect on your future, but at Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin, LLP our  Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys have the experience, skill and knowledge to guide and defend you in a very difficult process.  And experienced Los Angeles DUI defense attorney knows that blood alcohol science can give highly mixed results and that blood alcohol content can change in a person quickly and with extreme results.  Scientific results are only as reliable as the laboratories that handle them.  An experienced  Los Angeles DUI defense attorney can tell you that using the proper chemicals and equipment to test blood samples for the presence of alcohol can make a big difference in results.  In Leyritz's case, attorneys argued that the wrong equipment and chemicals had been used to test for his blood alcohol content and that the alcohol in the samples had been allowed to ferment, leading to an inaccurately high result. 

People of different heights, weights and builds can process alcohol at very different rates and function differently depending on the how much alcohol they have consumed.  If you have been charged with DUI, you do have options.  Call the Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys at Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin, LLP today at 1-877-781-1570 to find out what they are.