Al Martin walked into Scottsdale City Court yesterday morning and quietly concluded the Arizona domestic-violence case that landed his mugshot across newspapers and television screens nationally almost 7 1/2 months ago.
Martin, a longtime Pirates outfielder who plays for Seattle, entered a provisional plea of guilty to one misdemeanor count of domestic violence as part of an agreement under which he receives a two-year probation and one day in jail, among other sentences.
Five days before his originally scheduled City Court appearance, Martin and his Phoenix-based attorney met with Scottsdale prosecutors and Scottsdale Judge Joseph Olcavage. The judge approved the plea agreement that stipulates Martin must meet his sentencing requirements over the next two years, whereupon the charge will be dismissed.
The sentencing requirements are:
Two years of unsupervised probation, during which time he must avoid further legal entanglements.
A probation fee of $100.
A fine of $541.
One day in jail no later than Dec. 1, the date being at Martin's discretion.
Jail costs of $53.
A 16-week domestic non-violence program which he must successfully complete.
Twenty-four hours of community service.
This provisional program is offered to all first-time offenders in Arizona.
Martin's case came tolight the day after a March 20 altercation at a home he shared in the northeast Phoenix suburb of North Scottsdale with a woman who claimed to be his second current wife, Shawn Haggerty-Martin. He was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of domestic violence, one of which was voided, and a count of threatening or intimidation, which was dismissed. The outfielder, an off-season resident of North Scottsdale, had been traded less than a month before to the San Diego Padres, who train in a west Phoenix suburb.
Scottsdale police and prosecutors also held out a potential third charge, interfering with prosecution, because Martin continued to telephone Haggerty-Martin after their arrest despite a judge's orders that they have no contact. Yet, under the plea agreement, the sides whittled Martin's charges to a single count of domestic-violence physical injury.
On March 22, Haggerty-Martin similarly entered a provisional plea of guilty and received a one-year probation plus placement in a domestic non-violence program, her charge dismissed upon completion of both.
"I'm sure everything will come out when it's all said and done. I'm pretty confident," Martin said in March, a theme he repeated often in a season that saw him traded from San Diego to Seattle, with whom he played in the American League Divisional Series.
Martin, married to Catherine Martin of Scottsdale, was wed to Haggerty-Martin in Las Vegas on Dec. 11, 1998. Martin, however, maintained that he didn't think the Las Vegas ceremony was legitimate.
Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix dismissed Haggerty-Martin's divorce petition in September.
As for a potential felony charge of bigamy, Nevada officials said they were still investigating the matter -- though they didn't expect to file a charge unless fraud was found to be involved in the union.
Scottsdale Prosecutor Caron Close declined comment. Martin's attorney, Barry Mitchell, didn't return telephone messages.
Ex-Pirate Al Martin pleads guilty 
E-mail this story 
