Florida

Lawyer for Marlins Pitcher José Fernández: Boat Crash Investigation Flawed

The legal filing suggests Fernández may have had his drink spiked

What to Know

  • José Fernández died in late September 2016.
  • That investigation found that Fernandez was operating his boat when it hit a Miami Beach jetty.
  • A legal filing argues investigators did not properly conduct the probe into the deadly crash.

An attorney for the late Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández says he was unfairly blamed by investigators for the 2016 crash that killed him and two others.

The attorney, Ralph Fernandez, who is not related to the late ballplayer, made the argument in a legal filing meant to defend the pitcher's estate from a civil lawsuit.

The Monday filing accuses Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission  investigators of prematurely concluding that Fernández was responsible and then altering or ignoring evidence to the contrary. That investigation found that Fernández was operating his boat when it hit a Miami Beach jetty in September 2016.

An attorney for the estates of 27-year-old Emilio Macias and 25-year-old Eduardo Rivero says there's no evidence either of them were operating the vessel.

The filing suggests Fernández may have had his drink spiked.

"From the inception the case, agents decided that José Fernández was the operator and that his blood alcohol level would support the imaginary charges sufficiently so they intentionally failed to consider any evidence provided to them that José Fernández and Eduardo Rivero were the victims of foul play, the two of them unwitting reicipients of a spiked drink or a mickey of sorts," the filing reads.

The state wildlife agency declined to comment on the filing.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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