From a NYT article about Kerry Kennedy's going to trial on a drugged driving charge.
I don't believe that "people familiar with the case" theory, because if you've got enough extra money lying around that you can go to trial, you've got more than enough to pay someone to drive you around for the 3 months of driver's license suspension. The more direct reason to go to trial is that you want to clear your name.
The defense will try to convince the six jurors that she must have accidentally taken the [sleeping] pill since she was planning to work out in a gym and was so disoriented by the pill’s impact that she was not aware she was driving.I bet she wins.
Posts
49 comments:
How fortunate that her criminal behaviors did not kill someone, a behavior that isn't uncommon in that family. Of course that absence of responsibility is another common kennedy trait.
Will the lawyers have private eyes looking into the background of each juror to gauge how kennedyphilic they are?
I applaud any creative way to get off anything but I draw the line at PIs.
I'll take big money for $1000 Alex.
If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen, he'd be President today.
old Nat Lamp page
The flip side of that page is "Tavel Poland by Rail" with a train straddling two different tracks.
I could see that from the inside of my office, with the page posted on the office door frosted glass.
I'm not a lawyer, but can someone tell me, is that even a defense? If the state proves she took the drug and drove a car, is it really an allowable defense that she didn't know she was driving because she drugged herself? Strikes me as weird. How could they ever get any DUI convictions if that's a defense?
Shit, this'll be easy peasy.
Negligent homicide, homicide, rape; now those took some effort.
Why'd they even bother arresting her anyway?
She's royalty.
@Sean They are arguing that since she was apparently going to the gym, she would not have intentionally taken a sleeping pill, so she took the wrong pill, then she lost her capacity to know what she was doing.
If you go to a jury, you have a shot at an acquittal based on the jury deciding the prosecution was mean to come after you.
Well, she is a Kennedy, so, yeah.
" , is that even a defense? " In these days of eric's decisions to "punish them and not punish these ", ignore that statute but not this statute, At this point what difference does it really make. When the folks enforcing the law are amoral, the law can mean whatever they want it to. The disturbing part is, that some folks are okay with that, indeed, even defend it.
We are overvaluing Kennedys in politics and our psychological need for them distorts our thinking.
"Ms. Kennedy is president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice ... "
Center for Justice? And wants the DA to give her a break? How quaint.
Wasn't Old Joe a bootlegger? Drugs and alcohol seem to be in the Kennedy DNA.
I bet she wins.
Is she in Massachusetts?
Ann Althouse said...
@Sean They are arguing that since she was apparently going to the gym, she would not have intentionally taken a sleeping pill, so she took the wrong pill, then she lost her capacity to know what she was doing.
While I have little trouble believing in diminished mental capacity for any member of the Kennedy family (diminished as compared to a rock or vegetable), she's still charged with driving under the influence. Drinking a lot reduces one's mental capacity (see Kennedy, Ted) but few juries accept that as an excuse.
Hilarious. Her lawyers wont let her. See, she has no choice.
Rich people get the best justice.
@Sean, it's a member of the fabled Kennedy clan, and while she's not in Massachusetts, NY is nearly as blue a state -- maybe more so.
She'll walk. I mean drive.
I thought inadvertent ingestion was no defense to DUI. Isn't it a strict liability offense?
You don't have to drive when you are in foreign lands. There are things called limo services and taxis. There are even buses and trains and subways!
She'll get off. Of course she will. Too bad she has to rely on the I'm too dumb to know the difference between my pills defense. Yeah, I sure would want to donate money to the cause she is directing.
She met John Kerry in Paris? Which one was the United States not good enough for? Or was it a liaison?
If they got married, she'd be Kerry Kerry
I'm sures that Ann is right, but it is eerily similar to the old Steve Martin joke in which he proports to tell you "how to make a million dollars and pay no taxes".
He continues, "first make a million dollars". [laughter] Further he says " then, don't pay the taxes". [more laughter]
Lastly, when contacted by the IRS, just tell them, " . . . I forgoooooot!" [hillarity ensues]
His delivery was better.
The Kennedy's seem to have an issue with drugs/booze and driving in cars. Perhaps they should be driven around by their chauffer going forward.
The DAs will go through the motions, suck-up the publicity and throw the trial.
See, this is what I don't understand about the psychological aspect of people's judgement. Why would ANY rich, hi-profile person--Hollywood star, sports super-star, rich Kennedy type, etc.,--eschew a hired personal driver in lieu of driving one's self considering the risks involved?
I believe Patrick Kennedy used the same legal defense in his drug abuse cases.
Short short version: Patrick takes an Ambien. Later that night he's crashing into things around Capitol Hill. He swears he was not aware of any of this activity.
Why would ANY rich, hi-profile person--Hollywood star, sports super-star, rich Kennedy type, etc.,--eschew a hired personal driver in lieu of driving one's self considering the risks involved?
Because you can get away with it. How do they lose? They really never lose regardless of how wreckless they operate.
Aristocracy and Ruling Classes don't operate under the same rules as the Little People.
The Kennedy's are Aristocrats.
If she gets off at trial, it's only because she's a Kennedy, not because she's not guilty.
Look at the drug-driving mutt here:
Click to view Kerry Kennedy
Did she expect a jury trial? Didn't her lawyers try to have a judge dismiss the case?
Of course, if she had bad enough judgement to drive after she took the pill, she might have had bad enough judgement to put her gym clothes on.
Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment.
Brennan said...
Because you can get away with it. How do they lose? They really never lose regardless of how wreckless they operate.
Well, there's "wreckless" and then there's "reckless." If they drive around wreckless, they aren't hurting anyone because they aren't hitting anything. However, if they drive under the influence, they're being reckless. Homonyms can be a bitch sometimes.
That was a thud-dish name drop. Not only Kerry but Paris. Is this supposed to endear her to the masses?
Pure, unadulterated BS, start to finish.
Shit..she's a Kennedy...they're allowed to have car crashes in which they kill people.........
Daisy Buchanan.
What other medication was she supposed to have mistaken it for? Different kinds of pills have different sizes, shapes, and colors.
Since she's shown she's incapable of telling one pill from another, shouldn't her physician refuse to write any prescriptions for refills of the sleeping pills?
Is this the Kennedy who drove her car onto the sidewalk at her kid's school or was that the one who committed suicide?
Lonetown said...
I applaud any creative way to get off anything but I draw the line at PIs.
I bet Magnum helped more than a few women get off...
We should be thankful she was not a airplane pilot like her cousin JFK Jr..
That Kennedy family may have reached their "sell by date."
I hope she has a jury trial and that the trial is televised. It should provide great entertainment.
Kennedy's generally win. Sadly. Her reason is wrong. She can hire all the chauffeurs in the world.
She can hire all the chauffeurs in the world.
Maybe they've blown through Old Joe's bootlegging money and have to drive themselves.
Joke circa July, 1999: "I'm so old I remember when Kennedy's only killed their women 1 at a time...."
With the Kennedy track record on these issues, Kerry Kennedy seems perfectly suited for a cabinet position, say Secretary of Transportation. At a minimum, Drug Czar.
...her lawyers said she must drive for work not just in the United States but also in the many foreign countries she visits on behalf of abused women and children and for other causes. She was, for example, in Paris recently for a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry.
And if she ran over a few abused women and children getting there, well, hey, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.
Post a Comment