Sandra Cunningham, a 70-year-old veteran state senator (D) from New Jersey, pleaded “not guilty” this morning through her lawyer in a virtual hearing, after she was arrested in March after crash your car while supposedly drunk, NJ.com reported.
At midmorning on March 4, the Democratic state senator was arrested near her home in Jersey City after colliding two parked cars. Had trouble completing a field sobriety test She also asked police to call a local public security official before she was handcuffed, according to recently released body camera video.
Pictures show State Senator Cunningham disheveled, swaying and slurring during the incident. She was charged with driving while intoxicated after he allegedly collided with two parked cars.
The video also showed her groping in her wallet after officers asked to see her driver’s license.
“Have you had anything to drink today?” A policeman asked Cunningham, who replied “No.”
“No?” Asked the policeman. “Is there a reason why you wobble and have difficulty speaking … and performing basic instructions?” The senator replied that she was “very cold.”
While conducting a field sobriety test, the legislator appeared to have trouble putting one foot in front of the other, show the video. Y asked that the Jersey City director of public safety be called, James Shea, to the scene.
“What does Director Shea have to do with anything right now?” asked the officer administering the test, according to images described by the New York Post. “Well, because I can see that you are looking for something that is not there,” Cunningham replied.
His attorney, Michael Rubas, had told the press that “This was a serious accident, which resulted in Senator Cunningham’s request for medical assistance.”
This morning, the defendant did not appear at the online hearing in front of Bergen County Superior Judge Anthony Gallina, but her attorney said that should the case go to trial, Cunningham would want to attend in person.
The hearing was also attended by the police officer Christian Vasquez-Reyes who was involved in Cunningham’s arrest, but did not speak.
State Sen. Sandra Cunningham pleads not guilty to DWI https://t.co/iiCh3EE3nA pic.twitter.com/WK99qH3WqC
– njdotcom (@njdotcom) June 3, 2021
ξ
