Driver of Martin Pickup Legally Drunk, Test Shows

A blood alcohol test on the man blamed for the traffic accident in which former New York Yankee Manager Billy Martin died shows he was intoxicated according to legal definition, a prosecutor said today.

Kevin Guyette, who prosecutes felony drunk driving cases in the Broome County district attorney’s office, said the test on William Reedy supports the charge that Reedy was drunk Christmas evening when he drove Martin’s pickup truck off the road near Martin’s rural home.

Guyette refused to say what Reedy’s blood-alcohol level was, but he said Reedy was charged under the state law that says a person is intoxicated when his blood-alcohol level is at least 0.1%.

Conviction on the misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Reedy, who remained in fair condition today at University Hospital in Syracuse, faces arraignment Jan. 4.

Jon S. Blechman, Reedy’s Binghamton lawyer, was not in his office and could not be reached for comment, his secretary said.

The 53-year-old Reedy, of Detroit, told a sheriff’s deputy that he and Martin, 61, had been out shopping and had stopped for a drink at a Binghamton bar, whose name he did not know, before the accident.

Broome County Sheriff Anthony Ruffo said his investigators had not discovered which bar it was but said it would not have much bearing on the case.

State records in Michigan showed that Reedy was convicted in 1987 of driving while impaired after police in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb, reported his blood-alcohol level at more than 0.07%.

His license was restricted for three months and he was ordered to attend outpatient alcohol treatment classes, said Denise Yockey, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State’s office.

Reedy, owner of Reedy’s Saloon near Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, also had five driving infractions in Michigan, including careless driving, making an improper turn and speeding.