On Monday, a New York courthouse is set to hold the trial of Kerry Kennedy regarding her drugged driving, a TIME report read. Kennedy is the ex-wife of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and daughter of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy.
Kennedy, TIME said, was found to be on drugs when she hit a tractor-trailer on an interstate highway close to her New York home in 2012. Authorities reportedly said that she drive to the next exit, which is where she failed a sobriety test. Blood tests further revealed a minute trace of zolpidem, a sleeping drug, of which Kennedy claimed was a mistake when she mixed up the drug with her usual thyroid medication.
According to prosecutors, the jury will be deciding on Monday whether Kennedy did take the drug accidentally. Regardless, Kennedy will reportedly face penalties if she was found to have kept driving despite feeling the after effects of the drug.
TIME said that Kennedy's trial to be heard at the state Supreme Court was unheard of, considering that it is just a minor charge. However, the newsmagazine said lawyers for Kennedy managed to move the trial because it would be deemed for a high-profile one and that the Town Court in Armonk was too small and poorly equipped to handle it. Kennedy's trial is expected to be heard by six jurors and is expected to last for about one week.
Kennedy's legal camp was making efforts to dismiss the charge but both town and state courts have rejected the requests. TIME said her lawyers have submitted letters that extol Kennedy's human rights works across the globe from family and friends but failed to convince either of the courts.
At the jury selection last week, Kennedy was excused by Justice Robert Neary as the former was in Western Sahara for human rights work.
Kerry was not the only Kennedy who was involved in a criminal case, TIME said. Her brother Douglas was charged with child endangerment and harassment in 2012 stemming from a hospital maternity ward scuffle in Mount Kisco.
