'She was slumped and disoriented at the wheel': Witnesses at Kerry Kennedy's drug-driving trial testify how human rights activist kept driving despite swerving into a truck
- Kerry Kennedy faces a drug-driving trial in White Plains, New York
- She was arrested in 2012 after crashing her car, then failing a sobriety test
- Drivers testify that Kerry kept going after swerving into a truck
- She was later seen 'slumped over the wheel and disoriented'
- But brother Robert F Kennedy Jr said she has freed 'political prisoners from around the globe from imprisonment and torture'
- Kerry's mother, 85-year-old Ethel Kennedy, also appeared in court on Monday morning
By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press
|
Motorists testified at Kerry Kennedy's drugged-driving trial on Monday that she swerved her Lexus into a truck, damaging the car and blowing a tire, but kept driving and later was slumped at her steering wheel and disoriented.
Her lawyer said she was 'sleep-driving' because she had accidentally taken a sleeping pill.
Kennedy, 54, ex-wife of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, daughter of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and niece of President John F. Kennedy, went on trial today in White Plains, suburban New York.
Legal battle: Kerry Kennedy, (second left) daughter of assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy and ex-wife of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, exits the courthouse in White Plains, New York, next to her mother, Ethel Kennedy (bottom), and her brother, Douglas Harriman Kennedy (center)
Family: Kerry, 54, is charged with one count of driving while impaired, a misdemeanor. She was supported by her mother Ethel Kennedy, who exited the court in a wheelchair
She was supported by 85-year-old mother, who came to court, and brother Robert F Kennedy Jr. who defended his troubled sister before the trial began.
In his opening statement, defense lawyer Gerald Lefcourt told the six jurors that Kennedy was not disputing that she drove erratically.
But he said it happened because Kennedy accidentally took a sleeping pill that morning instead of her thyroid medication.
Kennedy's blood tests revealed a small amount of the sleeping drug zolpidem. 'The zolpidem kicks in. It shuts her down. She's in a state of sleep-driving,' Lefcourt said.
Prosecutor Doreen Lloyd said even if the pill were taken accidentally, Kennedy violated the law 'by failing to stop and pull over as she felt the onset of symptoms.'
But Lefcourt said Kennedy never knew what the drug was doing to her. He said the medication 'hijacks your ability to make decisions.'
Kennedy was arrested in 2012 after her car hit a tractor-trailer on an interstate highway near her home outside New York City. She drove to the next exit, where she failed a sobriety test, police said.
Leaving court: Kennedy initially said a partial seizure was to blame but a toxicology report showed that she had sleeping medication in her system
Smiles: Kerry Kennedy, daughter of assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the ex-wife of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, arrives to court in White Plains, New York, for the start of her drugged driving trial on Monday
Brotherly love: Robert 'Bobby' F Kennedy Jr. and his sister Kerry Kennedy attend a ball in 2011. Bobby has defended Kerry as her trial for drugged driving begins on Monday
Support: Ethel Kennedy, 85 (left), mother of Kerry Kennedy, arrives at the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains, New York, for her daughter's drugged driving trial on Monday
One fellow motorist, Henry Myers of North Salem, said he saw Kennedy swerve her car into the tractor-trailer on Interstate 684 and keep driving despite damaging her tire.
'I saw smoke. I figured the car would stop,' he said. When it didn't, he called 911.
Another
driver, William Carlino of Armonk, testified that a few minutes later
he found Kennedy slumped over the wheel and disoriented, with the car
running, in a left-turn lane on Route 22.
Carlino
said her car had one wheel without a tire. He said he ran from his car
to hers and knocked on her window, which seemed to startle her.
'I asked if she was OK and she nodded in the affirmative,' he testified. He also called police.
Kennedy's
mother, Ethel Kennedy, was among the supporters at her daughter's
trial; Robert F. Kennedy's widow, 85, walked slowly with an escort as
she entered the courthouse.
Two of Kerry Kennedy's brothers, Robert Kennedy Jr. and Douglas Kennedy, also were in the courtroom.
The case was being heard in state Supreme Court, a rarity for such a minor charge, but Kennedy's lawyers successfully argued that the Town Court in Armonk, which had jurisdiction, was too small and poorly equipped for the trial.
Company: From left, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ethel Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, and Mariah Kennedy Cuomo attend the 2013 Ripple Of Hope Awards. Kerry's mother, 85-year-old Ethel Kennedy, arrived at her trial in a wheelchair on Monday
Troubled: Kerry Kennedy, ex-wife of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, (center), leaves court in 2012. She was arrested after her car hit a tractor-trailer on a highway near her home outside New York City and failed a sobriety test
A town judge and a state judge both refused defense efforts to get the charge dismissed, despite warm letters from family and friends extolling Kennedy's work in human rights around the world.
Kennedy,
of Bedford, won permission from Justice Robert Neary to miss last
week's jury selection because she was on a human rights trip to Western
Sahara. The trial is expected to last about a week.
Robert
F Kennedy Jr. spoke out in defense of his beleaguered sister before her
trial began. 'Bobby' Kennedy defended Kerry pointing to the positive
impact of her human rights activism.
'Kerry's been instrumental in freeing political prisoners and dissidents from around the globe from imprisonment and torture,' RFK Jr told the New York Post.
JFK's 60-year-old nephew added: 'She
has freed hundreds of political prisoners from Uganda to Nigeria to
Kenya and Mexico because she has access because of her name.'
But he did caution: 'That doesn't mean she's above the law.'
Speaking out: Bobby Kennedy said 'Kerry's been instrumental in freeing political prisoners and dissidents from around the globe from imprisonment and torture'
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Comments (32)
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Of course he would say that. And you are right 'Bobby', you and your family are not above the law. She drove while under the influence and caused an accident. There are repercussions for certain actions. She was not charged with a DUI for her political beliefs, but because she broke the law.
Does this mean that just becuse she is a Kennedy she should not have been charged with this offense? I have absolutely no doubt that in the unlikely event she is found to be guilty, she will merely receive a mild slap on the wrist before being released back onto the streets.
Kennedys don't go to jail; they could commit cold-blooded murder and still run for office. Her Affluenza defense (and donations to appropriate political campaigns) will ensure that she gets 1% treatment...drug and alcohol treatment, pay off the victims, and gets to keep helping those poor folks.
"Kerry's been instrumental in freeing political prisoners and dissidents from around the globe from imprisonment and torture..." Sooooo, she gets a pass? What are you suggesting, Mr. Kennedy? More Kennedy entitlement? She could've killed someone, but hey, even if she had the Kennedy support team would rally around her with: "So what's the big deal? She's one of ours. She helps the disenfranchised; what's one death?"
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Sharon, Dallas, United States, 1 hour ago
How timely that we should read this headline the same time we are reading of the 7 year and his family that were destroyed 2 years ago by a DUI driver. Exactly how is "Kerry's been instrumental in freeing political prisoners and dissidents from around the globe from imprisonment and torture" even remotely relevant to her DUI arrest. But go ahead and let the "play" run it's course and in the end the outcome will be the same as always.