Miami Marlins star pitcher José Fernández was legally drunk and had cocaine in his system when he and two of his friends were killed in a boat crash last month off Miami Beach. Fernández had a blood alcohol content of .147, according to the toxicology results released Saturday. That is almost twice the legal limit of 0.08 that is the threshold to be considered under the influence. The two people Fernández was with, Emilio Jesus Macias and Eduardo Rivero, also had alcohol in their blood but neither one of them was legally drunk. Cocaine was also found in Rivero’s blood.
It still remains unclear who was driving the 32-foot boat that was owned by Fernández when it hit a jetty at a high speed during the early hours of Sept. 25. But the fact that the three men had been drinking isn’t exactly shocking considering a receipt for alcohol that was purchased at a bar shortly before the crash was found in one of their pockets. Investigators had also said the bodies of the men had a strong smell of alcohol when they were recovered by divers.
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s office released the toxicology reports a day after the Miami Herald filed a lawsuit on Friday demanding the documents. County officials had tried to deny the records saying they were part of “an active criminal investigation.” But the Herald pushed back against that argument by pointing out that all who were aboard the boat had died so no criminal charges were even possible.
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