Joan Kennedy: Drunken Driving Charge

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/31/1997 at 12:00 AM EST

Joan Kennedy, 64, the ex-wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy, was charged with drunken driving over the weekend, reports the Associated Press. She pleaded innocent yesterday to charges of driving under the influence and to refusing to provide her name or driver's license when she was pulled over Sunday night on Cape Cod, Mass. Her son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), released a statement noting his mother has long struggled with alcoholism "and she will pay a price for (this charge) through the legal system."