Case of the death of José Fernández takes a new direction
More than a year has passed since the tragedy, and Ralph Fernandez, a lawyer for the family of José Fernández, said recently that evidence was created and manipulated in the investigation of the death of the star player of the Marlins who died in a maritime accident in September of 2016.
“Justice is coming. I do not know what is behind this creation and manipulation of evidence, but they did it with bad intentions towards Fernandez", said the lawyer during a press conference in Miami, and specified that he will do "justice to the memory of the Cuban-American pitcher and will discover who got a hand in the case".
The lawyer said that the investigation and report of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) "were a hoax" and that they "manipulated the investigation".
"The truth has to come to light", said Ralph Fernández, adding that he is considering requesting an independent investigation into the pitcher´s death. Maritza Fernandez, mother of the player, was disappointed by the request of the Marlins to remove all his son's things from the stadium.
"I had to collect all his things. I have no words to describe how I feel. They even removed the wall in which thousands of people wrote to him in tribute", she said.
Maritza also declared that all the Marlins' promises that they were going to make a statue and name a street with her son's name were "lies". Both insisted that they are convinced that Fernandez did not use cocaine.
"All the tests were altered to make it look like José Fernández was driving the boat. All the initial reports disappeared, they were erased. That José Fernández was drinking, was partying, I believe it, but never cocaine", said the lawyer.
The FWC report says that Fernandez had a blood alcohol level of 0.167, twice the legal limit, and that he was drunk, had used cocaine and was driving the boat at excessive speed. The lawyer said in the judicial records of the case that José Fernández had a blood alcohol level of 0.147, still above the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
FWC´s spokesman Robert Klepper told the press that the agency had no comment after the attorney filed a 167-page document on April 2 in the Miami Dade Circuit Court, alleging that the FWC investigators, the agency that investigated the accident, erroneously concluded that Fernández was at fault when his boat crashed on September 25, 2016.
The attorney also spoke at the press conference to rumors that the baseball family has benefited financially after the death of Fernandez. "If this was true, this house would not be in the process of being auctioned", he said.
