Mary Kennedy, wife of Robert Kennedy, Jr., is in legal trouble again and has been charged with Driving While Ability Impaired with drugs, or DWAI-drugs, after a traffic stop Saturday.
State police said she was pulled over on the Taconic State Parkway, in the Dutchess County, town of Pleasant Valley on Aug. 21 at around 7:51 a.m. According to field tests done by police, it was determined that she was impaired by drugs at the time of her arrest. She is due to appear in Pleasant Valley town court on Aug. 26 at 5 p.m.
Capt. Robert Nuzzo of Troop K said the woman was caught driving at 82 mph at the time. She was brought to police headquarters in Poughkeepsie, where tests revealed that she had prescription medication in her system, Nuzzo said. He said that she was also charged with speeding, a violation.
Kerry Lawrence, Kennedy's attorney, told The Journal News that she was on her way to a yoga class at the Omega Institute, which is in nearby Rhinebeck. As of Tuesday morning, Lawrence has not responded to requests from Patch for an interview.
Kennedy was arrested for DWI in May in Bedford, after a Bedford police officer reported her to be intoxicated when she was encountered near the driveway of St. Patrick's School. At that time, she recorded a .11 BAC level in a sobriety test, well above the state's legal limit of .08.
Kennedy pleaded to a lesser offense of DWAI last month in Bedford town court. Her license was suspended for 90 days, and she was required to pay $500 in fines. Her suspension, however, had conditional driving periods.
According to Nuzzo, no charges with regards to violating the conditional suspension are listed. Lawrence, in his Journal News interview, said that Kennedy was within the terms of her conditions when she was heading to the Omega Institute.
