Riverhead - Former Southampton Town Supervisor
Linda Kabot, who was charged with DWI in 2009, was found not guilty by a jury late this afternoon. The lone charge that she was found guilty of was failing to stop at a stop sign.
The jury, which consisted of three men and three women reached its verdict after a five day trial in Riverhead Town Court which was presided over by Justice
Allen Smith. If convicted, Kabot would have faced up to a year in prison and up to a $1,000 fine.
Closing arguments were presented in Riverhead Town Court this morning. In his closing argument, Kabot's attorney,
William Keahon spoke for over an hour, and asked the jury to acquit Kabot of all charges because of "The lies that were told on the witness stand" by Westhampton Beach police officers. The defense has maintained its argument that Kabot was set up, and that the police wanted to embarrass her after her proposed termination of six Southampton town police officers.
On Tuesday, Justice Smith ordered the release of the police video recording of Kabot's arrest. Apparently in the video Kabot appears unsteady and argumentative, and at one point, the video was turned off for several minutes.
Police charged Kabot with driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to a pre-screen breath test, failure to maintain lane and failure to stop at a stop sign. Kabot, 43, of Quogue, had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Kabot was arrested on Main Street in Westhampton Beach on Labor Day weekend in 2009. Police stopped her shortly before 12 midnight on Sunday, September 6, 2009 and arrested her at 12:25 a.m. on Monday, September 7.
According to the complaint, police observed "a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath, her eyes were red and glassy and she appeared uncoordinated." The complaint also reported "The subject also failed field sobriety tests." Kabot refused to take tests to measure her blood alcohol level.
For more information about this case, read related links below on Hamptons.com:
Hearings Over, Kabot Trial Will Begin This Fall
Supervisor Linda Kabot DWI Hearing Continues Into Next Week
Judge Smith Rules ICOP Video Admissible In Kabot DWI Trial
Guest (Debbie Potter) from Southampton says:
If you check online for DWI in Norristown, PA, you will see why people shouldn't take a breathalyzer test. They arrested and charged close to 500 people who went to jail, paid fines, hired attorneys and then it was found out that the machine was faulty.