Former Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot’s DWI trial kicked off Monday, and testimony given by Westhampton Beach Village Police Officer Steven McManus—one of two police officers who arrested her on Labor Day 2009—dominated the first two days of hearings in Riverhead Town Justice Court.
On Tuesday, during four and a half hours of testimony, Officer McManus was cross-examined by William Keahon, Ms. Kabot’s defense attorney, who asked a series of questions suggesting that his client’s arrest was organized by police because of her support of a plan that would have forced a half dozen Southampton Town Police officers into accepting early retirement. The plan was never approved.
On Tuesday, Mr. Keahon asked Officer McManus if he had shown Ms. Kabot’s driver’s license to Westhampton Beach Sergeant Nicholas Fusco, whose shift was set to end at midnight, after the sergeant observed that he and fellow Officer Ryan Lucas had pulled over a car on Main Street. Ms. Kabot was pulled over at 11:44 p.m. on Sunday, September 6, 2009, but not arrested until 12:05 a.m. on Monday, September 7.
Officer McManus confirmed that he had shown Ms. Kabot’s license to Sgt. Fusco, prompting the defense attorney to next ask Officer McManus if he also told Sgt. Fusco: “Look who we got,” or “We got her, we got her.”
“I don’t recall if I even said anything, sir,” Officer McManus said, “but why would I run up to him and say, ‘We got her, we got her’?”
Mr. Keahon also pointed to a number of cell phone and text message conversations between Officer McManus and his fellow officers and superiors, highlighting a call that the officer made on September 7 to Patrick Aube, president of the Southampton Town Patrolmen’s Benevolence Association.
“Did you talk about the arrest of Linda Kabot?” Mr. Keahon asked Officer McManus.
“I’m sure we did,” he responded.
On Monday and Tuesday, jurors watched a 30-minute video of Ms. Kabot’s arrest that was shot by a dashboard camera installed in the police car. In the video, she tells the officers that she drank one or two glasses of wine earlier that night during a birthday party for her sister at a home in East Moriches. Ms. Kabot, who lives in Quogue, was arrested and charged with DWI, a misdemeanor.
The video was released to various media outlets that had requested it, including The Press, at the order of Riverhead Town Justice Allen Smith.
On Wednesday, jurors were expected to begin hearing testimony from Officer Lucas, according to Mr. Keahon. In addition to Sgt. Fusco, Westhampton Beach Detective Edwin Hamor and Westhampton Beach Lieutenant Trevor Gonce will appear in court in the coming days, he said.
Justice Smith ruled last week that two witnesses—rumored to be employees of Magic’s Pub in Westhampton Beach—will not be allowed to take the stand. Bob Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota’s office, previously stated that they were expected to testify that they had observed Ms. Kabot drinking alcohol at the Main Street bar about six hours before she was pulled over by Westhampton Beach Village Police, something Ms. Kabot has denied in the past.
According to court documents, the judge ruled that consumption of alcohol four hours prior to Ms. Kabot’s arrest would not provide evidence that she was intoxicated at the time of the stop, and could be prejudicial toward her, so it was not admissible.
Ms. Kabot declined to comment on the proceedings.
Before Officer McManus took the stand on Monday, and before the first viewing of the arrest video had taken place, Mr. Keahon and Assistant District Attorney Anthony Baron wrapped up their opening statements.
“This is a simple case—drinking alcohol and then choosing to get into a motor vehicle and operate it on our public highways,” said Mr. Baron during his opening salvo. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
The arrest video itself shows Ms. Kabot driving south on Sunset Avenue in Westhampton Beach and, at one point, her driver’s side tires cross over the double yellow line. Then, the tape shows her failing to fully stop at a stop sign before making a left turn onto Main Street. She then proceeds to drive around pedestrians who are crossing the street before drifting from her lane a second time.
“I was concerned for the safety of those people,” Officer McManus said during Mr. Keahon’s cross-examination on Tuesday, explaining why he pulled Ms. Kabot over.
Though he never said it outright, Mr. Keahon’s line of questioning suggested that the officer was a participant in an alleged political conspiracy that targeted Ms. Kabot, who was up for reelection that November. Ms. Kabot was ultimately defeated by current Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst in the fall election held months later.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Keahon declined to comment on whether he was framing his defense around the notion that Ms. Kabot was being set up by police. “What I’m attempting to do is put all of the evidence on the table to the jury,” he said. “I trust they will come to the right verdict.”
Officer McManus, who testified for about two hours on Monday, told jurors that when he and Officer Lucas pulled over Ms. Kabot on Main Street, he noticed that her eyes were red and bloodshot, and that he could smell alcohol on her.
On Tuesday, Officer McManus said it “did not appear” that Ms. Kabot was slurring her words when they pulled her over. He also testified that she did not sway or stumble, or require assistance when asked to step outside of her car. Officer Lucas then conducted three field sobriety tests, which police said she failed. Ms. Kabot also refused multiple request that she submit to Breathalyzer test.
After the tests, the video shows that Ms. Kabot was left standing near the back of her car while the two officers are not visible. The tape then jumps more than three minutes ahead and, when it starts recording again, Ms. Kabot is still standing in the same position.
Officer McManus testified that he disobeyed Westhampton Beach Village Police Chief Ray Dean’s instructions to never turn off the dashboard cameras—or their audio—because he said he needed to check the time and wanted to review what he had seen.
“Why disobey a chief’s order to look back at the video?” Mr. Keahon asked.
“We were about to take the Southampton Town supervisor into custody for DWI,” Officer McManus responded. “I wanted to make sure what we had on the tape we saw.”
On January 27, Justice Smith ruled that prosecutors would not be allowed to introduce two witnesses—believed to be former employees of the now closed Magic’s Pub—at trial. “There is no competent proof that the consumption of alcohol four to six hours before the arrest has any relevant value to the case at hand,” he said.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Shapiro, who is assisting the main prosecutor, Mr. Baron, disagreed with that ruling, stating that consumed alcohol does not “magically disappear” after several hours. Mr. Shapiro also said he intends to call a toxicologist to the stand later in the trial.
“You are so wrong, it’s dazzling,” Justice Smith responded, referring to Mr. Shapiro’s argument that the alcohol Ms. Kabot might have consumed four to six hours earlier would still be in her system.
Mr. Keahon said he was not worried about the introduction of a new witness.
“Number one, she was never [at Magic’s Pub] on that date,” Mr. Keahon said outside the courtroom on Monday evening. “Anything that they would have said would have either been a lie, or they were just mistaken,” he added, referring to the two witnesses who were not permitted to testify. “I would have dealt with them on the witness stand.”
