The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been charged with Driving while impaired by drugs within one month of pleading guilty to a Driving while ability impaired (DWAI) in the Bedford Town Court. This past Saturday, Ms. Kennedy was arrested by police in Dutchess County after allegedly being observed driving 82 m.p.h on the Taconic Parkway. When she failed standardized field sobriety tests, and was examined by a drug-recognition expert at the police barracks in Millbrook, New York, she was charged with DWAID, or driving while ability impaired by drugs.
Back on July 22, 2010, in the Bedford Town Court, Ms. Kennedy pled guilty to a reduced charge of driving while ability impaired arising out of an incident on May 15, 2010, in which police in Bedford observed Ms. Kennedy’s vehicle strike a curb outside a school. At that time, she was found to have a BAC of .11, more than the legal limit of 0.08%, which resulted in a DWI charge. Kennedy’s sentence in the Bedford case included a $500.00 fine, the requirement to attend the mandatory drinking driver program, (which is a seven week class that all motorists convicted of any DWI charge must take), and an order that she submit her quarterly evaluations from her psychiatrist to the Court.
Most critically for Ms. Kennedy, she was permitted to obtain a “Conditional discharge” and conditional license in the Bedford case, which allowed her to drive in limited circumstances including to and from work, DDP classes, to an accredited educational institution, and medical appointments for her herself and family members. The terms of the conditional discharge mandated that Ms. Kennedy not have any other DWI or other criminal charges within one year of the July 22 guilty plea.
Thus, if the new charges are substantiated, in addition to the penalties she will face in the August 21 incident, Ms. Kennedy will be found to have “violated her conditional discharge”, losing her conditional license and facing the possibility that Bedford Town Judge Kevin Quaranta will sentence her to up to 15 days in jail as the maximum penalty for the original DWAI conviction.
If you have been charged with a New York DWI or any other criminal offense, contact the Westchester County Criminal Defense Lawyers at the Law Office Of Mark A. Siesel online or toll free at (914) 428-7386 for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights and options with an experienced criminal defense lawyer to vigorously fight the charges against you.