The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. settled her drunken-driving case without jail time Thursday night by pleading guilty to a minor charge.

Mary Kennedy admitted in court that her driving ability was impaired when she drove over a curb outside a school in Bedford, 30 miles north of New York City, in May.

Robert Kennedy, who has reportedly filed for divorce, was not in court. He also was not among the many relatives and friends who wrote supportive letters to Town Judge Kevin Quaranta.

"He was not asked," said Mary Kennedy's lawyer, Kerry Lawrence.

Robert Kennedy's mother, Ethel Kennedy, and his sister Kerry Kennedy wrote letters, with Ethel Kennedy telling the judge her daughter-in-law is "kind, loving, gentle and generous."

Mary Kennedy, 50, would not comment after the court session. Her lawyer said she was "pleased to get some closure."

The charge of driving while ability impaired is a violation and carries no jail time. The judge fined Kennedy $500, suspended her driver's license for 90 days and ordered her to attend two drunken-driving programs.

A Connecticut judge has dismissed a drunken-driving charge against Rip Torn after the actor completed a court-ordered alcohol education program.

Torn was arrested in December 2008 near his home in Salisbury. He was stopped while driving in the breakdown lane with a Christmas tree tied atop his Subaru.

Bantam Superior Court Judge Cara Eschuck dismissed the charge Friday because Torn completed a program that gives drunken-driving defendants a chance to clear their records.

But another case is pending against the 79-year-old: charges that he broke into a bank in January while intoxicated and armed. He returns to court Tuesday in that case.

Torn won an Emmy for "The Larry Sanders Show." Screen credits include the "Men in Black" movies.

Pittsburgh DUI Defense Lawyer

Just as you wouldn’t hire your family doctor to perform brain surgery, you should be very careful when selecting an attorney to defend you if you’ve been charged with DUI. With the continuing emphasis on DUI in the media and the trend toward increased penalties, even for first time offenders with a low blood-alcohol concentration (“BAC”), it is important that you choose an attorney knowledgeable in all areas of DUI law. It might be ok to hire a “jack-of-all trades” attorney to sell your house or write your will, but you may want to think twice about this when your freedom is potentially at stake.

There are defenses available to almost every set of facts in a DUI case, depending upon the specific type of evidence in each case. The trick is knowing what to look for and how to use those facts in creating a defense to the allegation of driving under the influence. Questions to think about are: did the officer have cause to stop you, cause to have you perform field sobriety tests, and cause to take you for a chemical test? Were the field sobriety tests valid? Do they have any correlation to intoxication? Was the officer trained in the field sobriety tests that you performed? Did the officer inform you about the implied consent rule? Was the breath machine used to test you calibrated? Was the officer who gave the test trained and certified to give you the breath test (which is required)? Do you have any medical problems that might have impacted your performance on field sobriety tests or influenced your BAC reading? Of course, this information in the hands of an attorney that does not know how to evaluate it is useless.

Another important piece of evidence that will be used against you is the police report. In addition to the countless police reports that I wrote over my 15-year police career, I also spent 7 years as a lieutenant reading and approving thousands upon thousands of police reports. This is a critical piece of evidence that will be used against you in your case.

http://www.gbmlawpittsburgh.com/dui-defense

If you've been arrested for DUI, this is most likely one of the worst days of your life. As a former police officer, I know the range of emotions that you must be feeling. You're probably angry at yourself for letting this happen, embarrassed to face family and friends, worried about your job, scared because you don’t know whether you’re going to jail and confused because you're not sure what to do next. As a Pittsburgh Police Lieutenant, I spent several years in charge of the Pittsburgh Police DUI Task Force and have extensive experience with all aspects of DUI law in Pennsylvania. The attorneys in my office help steer you through this nightmare so that you are able to get on with your life.

http://www.gbmlawpittsburgh.com/contact

Erwin Washington, 51, of Lakewood, Colorado, had been due to captain a Boeing 767 bound for Chicago last November with 124 passengers and 11 crew members when a colleague smelled alcohol on his breath.

The flight was "imminent" when police arrived and arrested him. A breath test recorded a reading of 31 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of breath. The legal limit is nine micrograms.

When arrested Washington, who has a military background, replied: "Okay, fine."

He pleaded guilty at London's Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Tuesday to being above the alcohol limit for flying a plane, the Press Association reported. His lawyer Chris Humphreys said the pilot was "remorseful."

Humphreys told the court that legislation relating to airline staff over the legal alcohol limit for flying had only been used seven times. "There are, thankfully, very few cases of this sort," he said.

Washington will be sentenced on February 5 and was released on unconditional bail.

United Airlines said he had been suspended pending a full investigation.

The new year brings new state laws that drivers, school children, homeowners and everyone else should know about. Following is a partial list with a synopsis of each law that takes effect in 2010.

A pilot for DUI drivers

Assembly Bill 91 establishes a pilot program in the counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare that will run from July 1 through Jan. 1, 2016. The program will require drivers convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol to install and maintain an ignition interlock device for a prescribed amount of time before they can have their driving privileges reinstated.

DUI driver options

Effective July 1, Senate Bill 598 will require the Department of Motor Vehicles to advise second-time and third-time misdemeanor DUI offenders of the following options: get a restricted driver's license that would allow driving after a 90-day suspension period after a second conviction, or a six-month suspension period for a third conviction if the violation only involves alcohol.

Offenders must enroll in a DUI program and install and keep ignition interlock devices in their vehicles.

A federal prosecutor from Rhode Island has pleaded not guilty to drunken driving after police decided to charge him following questions about whether he was let off the hook because of his connections.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard Sullivan appeared in District Court Friday and was released after he promised to appear at his next court hearing Dec. 15. He left without commenting.

Sullivan was pulled over for driving erratically early Thanksgiving morning. Police say he told them he had had too much to drink, and mentioned several times he was a prosecutor and knew their chief before refusing a breathalyzer test. He was initially charged only with refusing a chemical breath test.

Warwick police and the U.S. Department of Justice are both investigating.