“Real Housewives of Potomac” star Karen Huger was convicted of driving under the influence and negligent driving charges, months after she was arrested following a car crash in March.
A Maryland jury on Wednesday also found the Bravo personality guilty of failure to control speed to avoid a collision and failure to notify authorities of an address change, after a trial this week, The Times has confirmed. Huger was found not guilty of reckless driving.
In a statement shared with The Times, Maryland State Attorney John McCarthy said driving under the influence is “extremely dangerous behavior.”
“We prosecute thousands of D.U.I. cases every year and take them seriously. This defendant’s case was not handled any differently based on the facts and her traffic history,” McCarthy added. “We encourage the public to always drive sober and practice safety on the roads.”
The 61-year-old reality TV star could face up to two years in prison.
Huger’s attorney A. Scott Bolden told People in a statement they were “disappointed” by the verdict but “of course respect their decision and appreciate their time hearing our case.”
A legal representative for Huger did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Thursday.
Maryland police arrested Huger on March 19 after officers reported to the site of a single-vehicle collision in Potomac at approximately 11:50 p.m. local time, the Montgomery County Police Department confirmed to The Times. Huger allegedly crossed a median and hit street signs, crashing her Maserati.
She was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence and other traffic violations and was later released from police custody. Shortly after her arrest, Huger attributed the accident to grief and her mother’s 2017 death. “Grief comes and goes in waves, and with Mother’s Day approaching it has felt more like a tsunami,” she said at the time.
Huger told TMZ that the crash occurred after she and a friend discussed “emotionally sensitive topics” over dinner and that she was overcome with emotions on the way home. In her March statement, Huger alleged she saw another vehicle “heading right for me” and that she had swerved to avoid an accident. She said she hit the divider and then a tree.
The trial this week included witness testimony and police body camera video, reviewed by The Times, showing Huger shortly after the car crash. In the video she can be seen refusing to turn over her driver’s license, seeming to slur her speech and requesting that officers keep their hands off her and leave her alone. In other footage, she requests that an officer turn off their body cam.
Huger’s sentencing is tentatively set for Jan. 29, 2025.
___
© 2024 Los Angeles Times
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
