Former Yankee Jim Leyritz will be back in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom Monday as jury selection in his DUI manslaughter trial is scheduled to begin.
Leyritz, 46, faces a maximum of 15 years behind bars in the December 2007 death of 30-year-old Fredia Ann Veitch.
Prosecutors allege Leyritz was celebrating his 44th birthday with friends on Fort Lauderdale beach when he decided to hop in his SUV around 3 a.m. Around the same time, Veitch was leaving her shift at a bar and headed home.
The two collided after Leyritz allegedly ran a red light and crashed into her car.
Leyritz's blood-alcohol content was 0.14 and 0.13 when tested about three and four hours after the crash. Veitch had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18, authorities said. The legal limit in Florida is 0.08.
In May, Leyritz settled a wrongful death civil case with Veitch's family, agreeing to pay $350,000 to her husband and two children. According to the settlement, Leyritz's insurance company will pay $250,000 and the former baseball player will pay the Veitch family $1,000 every month for the next 100 months.
Leyritz spent 10 years in Major League Baseball with the Yankees, Anaheim Angels, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers. His hallmark moment came in 1996, when he hit a 3-run home run against the Atlanta Braves in game 4 of the World Series.
