Yes, there is reason. All described in the Massei report and findings by the coroner dr Lalli. A mushroom and a percentage of alcohol similar to the amount found in a glass of wine or beer.
Lets look into the alcohol level issue first. On pp. 152-153 of the English translation of the Massei report: "In the liver too a very slight quantity had been detected, equal to 0.2, which was comparable from the pharmacokinetic point of view with the 0.43 verified by Dr. Lalli at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Perugia, rather than with the value of 2.72. He [Professor Cingolani?] concluded on this point that that was no pharmacokinetic condition which could justify all three of these values, that is zero in the stomach, 2.72 in the blood and 0.2 in the liver. On the basis of these elements they had concluded that Meredith was not in a condition of alcoholic intoxication
He could not indicate why the analysis of the blood had given a particularly high value, close to ethylic coma, (page 108) other than in terms of a simple hypothesis: the exchange of samples; a contamination with the passage of alcohol to the sample, taking place when the exhibit was in the refrigerator." The implication is that the 2.72 figure was some sort of error, either contamination or exchange [mislabeling?] of samples. It is not obvious why microbial fermentation should be ruled out, as discussed below.
One major problem with the autopsy information on alcohol is the information that is not there, namely the alcohol levels from the bladder and vitreous humor. These two locations are relatively free of the problems of microbial contamination. Microbes can produce alcohol, and in some cases, the problem is severe. I suspect that this explains one result from the USS Iowa, mentioned below.
At
this site: "The interpretation of the analytical results obtained from autopsy material has difficulties as a result of lack of homogeneity of blood samples, microbial alcohol production post mortem, alcohol diffusion from gastric residue and contaminated airways, and the lack of or unreliability of information on the clinical condition of the person immediately prior to death...A single autopsy blood alcohol level is uninterpretable without concurrent vitreous humour and urine alcohol levels, as well as information gleaned from the scene of the accident....Analysis of vitreous humour is useful to corroborate the post mortem blood alcohol and assist in assessing and extrapolating to anti-mortem intoxication from post mortem alcohol production. Vitreous alcohol can also serve as an alternative sample if a satisfactory post mortem blood sample is unavailable or contaminated. In most cases the specimen is easily obtained, and can be sampled without a full autopsy. Vitreous alcohol is also important, because studies have shown post mortem putrefaction does not contribute to the alcohol levels measured in the vitreous." I recall that this point came up in the accident that claimed the life of Princess Diana.
Besides vitreous fluid, the bladder is a good place to sample. In their 2007 review article (Forensic Science International 165 (2007) 1029), Kugelberg and Jones wrote, Thus by calculating the ratio of UAC/BAC furnishes useful information about the status of alcohol absorption at the time of death [115118]. Finding a ratio less than or close to unity suggests incomplete absorption of alcohol in all body fluids at time of death, which indicates fairly recent drinking and some of the ingested alcohol probably remains unabsorbed in the stomach, whereas finding a ratio of 1.25 or more suggests that absorption and distribution of ethanol was complete by the time of death [117]. These authors go on to discuss the case of the USS Iowa, which may represent a particularly challenging situation for the person performing an autopsy: For example, a person with 190 mg/100 mL in blood had no alcohol present in urine, which obviously raises suspicion about the integrity of the BAC report.
From the textbook, Forensic Chemistry, 2nd ed., by Suzanne Bell: "The vitreous fluid, found inside the eyeball, can be valuable in postmortem cases, particularly when other postmortem samples have been compromised. It resides in what is called anatomical isolation (at least relatively isolated) and thus will resist changes associated with decomposition longer than blood, urine, and other tissues. Because there are no metabolic enzymes present, relative concentration ratios of parent compounds to metabolites are preserved
Vitreous fluid is useful for estimating alcohol levels at the time of death; outside the vitreous, changes associated with decomposition can alter the blood alcohol content. (bolding and italics in original)
I am not aware of any record of alcohol content from Merediths vitreous fluid being made public. Without more information, it is not possible to say with certainty what level of alcohol was actually present in her body at her time of death. Finally, the mushroom was probably apple. MOO.
