Kerry Kennedy, 54, will be on trial Monday for a drugged driving charge she received in 2012 after she hit a tractor-trailer on a highway near her New York City residence.
Ms. Kerry, is the daughter of the deceased Sen. Robert Kennedy and ex-wife of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Her trial opens in White Plains, The Associated Press reported.
Ms. Kerry is accused of hitting the tractor-trailer and failing to stop immediately for police, Fox News reported. She drove to the next available highway exit, where police apprehended her and gave her a sobriety test, which she failed, AP said. She defended her actions by saying she mistakenly took a sleeping pill, zolpidem, instead of her thyroid medication.
Jurors will have to decide if her ingestion of the sleeping tablet was truly an accident, AP said. Still, legal minds say Ms. Kennedy broke the law regardless, because she continued to drive after feeling the sleeping pill’s effects, AP reported.
Meanwhile, Ms. Kerry’s family has rallied behind her. Her brother, Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy Jr., 60, actually telephoned a New York Post columnist to plead for compassion for his sister, saying if she goes to jail, the international community could suffer.
“Kerry’s been instrumental in freeing political prisoners and dissidents from around the globe from imprisonment and torture,” he said in the New York Post. He claimed that if she goes to jail, political activists around the world faced possible torture and imprisonment.
PHOTOS: Celebrity deaths in 2014
Ms. Kerry faces up to a year behind bars if convicted, Fox News reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.