The congressman receives a 10-day suspended jail sentence and is ordered to perform community service for driving under the influence.

01:02 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 14, 2006

BY JOHN E. MULLIGAN
Journal Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- He arrived with the trappings of an American prince: a storied family name; a somber blue suit set off by a sumptuous orange-striped necktie; an entourage that included a lawyer, a congressman, a phalanx of aides and news reporters.

But in the matter of Criminal Case Number 2006 CTF 11969, the defendant shared a docket packed with humbler folk. Quivering on one wooden bench was a young woman with red-dyed hair and a butterfly tattoo behind each ear. Slumped back on another was a man in a New York Jets jersey and oversized, low-hanging shorts. Coming and going in orange jumpsuits were various defendants held overnight on various petty charges.

A balding prosecutor ticked off in a monotone the particulars of the defendant's behavior in the predawn hours of May 4. The attorney said he could "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" the near collision of the defendant's green Mustang with a Capitol Hill Police car and the ensuing crash into a security barrier, the defendant's incoherent speech, his swaying gait, his inability to direct police correctly to his own house.

But in this first case after lunch yesterday in Courtroom 115 of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, no proof was necessary. "I am pleading guilty to driving under the influence," said Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island.

Thus concluded the plea bargain on the criminal misdemeanor charge resulting from Kennedy's crash May 4, after he had taken doses of a sleeping pill and a powerful prescription drug for stomachaches.

In return for his guilty plea, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia dropped charges of reckless driving and failure to exhibit a driver's license.

Kennedy accepted a 10-day suspended jail sentence and one year of probation. His Rhode Island driver's license will be revoked for six months.

A $300 fine was also suspended, but Superior Court Judge Aida L. Melendez ordered the 38-year-old son of the nation's most famous political family to perform 50 hours of community service for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and pay a total of $350 to that club and to a crime victims' compensation fund.

The terms of his probation also require Kennedy to follow addiction recovery guidelines set by his doctors, including attendance at weekly meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and another recovery group; random urine screenings for drugs and monthly addiction treatment sessions with a doctor at Bethesda Naval Hospital. After the sentencing, the congressman briefly addressed the news media outside the courthouse.

"I accepted the consequences of my actions," Kennedy said. "I look forward today to moving on with the next chapter of my life. . . . I am very grateful to be on the road to recovery."

Kennedy, son of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, spent nearly a month in addiction treatment after the accident, returning to work at the House of Representatives last week.

The Capitol Hill Police officers who detained Kennedy after his crash initially suspected drunken driving. The six-term congressman has denied drinking any alcohol that night. The police did not test him for alcohol impairment before driving him from the accident scene near the Capitol to his home. Kennedy said he sought no preferential treatment.

Kennedy did not take questions after his statement outside the courthouse. But he introduced U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, a Minnesota Republican and recovering alcoholic of 25 years, who has agreed to be Kennedy's AA sponsor.

"He accepted his addiction and he's on the road to recovery, one day at a time," Ramstad said of Kennedy.

Yesterday's events brought fresh expressions of support for Kennedy.

"Congressman Kennedy all along said he was going to take full responsibility and it looks like today that's what he's done," said Rep. James R. Langevin's spokeswoman, Joy Fox.

Another Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed, said, "This is another step on his road to recovery, and I look forward to continuing to work with him for the betterment of Rhode Island."

Republican Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee declined comment.

Kennedy has spoken more openly about his long ago diagnosis of manic depression and -- since May 4 -- about his drug abuse than he has spoken about his alcohol abuse. He has yet to explain why -- since he so vigorously denies drinking before last month's auto accident -- the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous plays such a large role in his prescription for recovery.

But when Kennedy departed the courthouse without answering questions yesterday, Ramstad explained that AA is a recovery program that works for those addicted to alcohol or any other "chemical substance."

Ramstad said yesterday's court session was "a great wake-up call" for Kennedy that reminded Ramstad of his own day of reckoning, when a drunken incident landed him in jail. Ramstad said he will soon celebrate 25 years without a drink.

Other Republicans took a different view of yesterday's court action.

"The congressman should resign. That's it," said Edmund R. Leather, the Republican and former foreign-service officer running for Kennedy's seat. "He should just resign, take care of himself, for his own good."

"This whole case has been riddled with exceptional handling. And maybe that's just one of the benefits of being a congressman," said Chuck Newton, spokesman for the Rhode Island GOP. "The test is, would you or I have gotten the same deal? I don't know. But I suspect not."

Yesterday's proceeding against Kennedy ran, according to the official transcript, from 2:07 p.m. to 2:42 p.m. Then the judge instructed him to wait for his court papers to be prepared.

During the long minutes that ensued, the cavalcade of misdemeanor criminals and drunken drivers resumed before the congressman's eyes.

Next on the docket was one Michael Jackson, a burly man with a shaved head, wrist restraints and a prisoner's orange jumpsuit.

Jackson had been jailed since Saturday on a "POCA" complaint -- Possession of an Open Container of Alcohol (possession of an alcoholic beverage, in an open container, in a vehicle, in or upon a street, an alley, a park, or a parking area).

As the congressman received his court papers and stood with his group to depart, it was not clear when the POCA defendant in the orange jumpsuit would be released.

With reports from projo.com writer Steve Peoples.

jmulligan@belo-dc.com / (202) 661-8423