Prosecutor: RFK's son kicked nurse in hospital fight

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. Prosecutors alleged during the opening statements of Douglas Kennedy's trial that he kicked a nurse to the floor and twisted the arm of another when he tried to remove his newborn son from a hospital without permission.

A defense lawyer said the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy acted instinctively to protect the baby when the nurse overreacted to his innocent attempt to get fresh air for the infant.

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The opening statements came in Kennedy's trial on charges of physical harassment and child endangerment.

The first witness, a hospital security chief, said the incident set off a hospital-wide "code pink" indicating an abduction. But he said that by the time he called police, he knew the baby was safely back in the maternity ward.

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A Kennedy in hot water

In advance of the trial, Judge John Donohue denied most of Kennedy's requests for access to the nurses' personnel and medical records. But he ordered the hospital to turn over its written policies about when and how a baby can be taken from the hospital by a parent.

Kennedy was arrested in February. A state investigation, including a visit to the Kennedy home in Chappaqua, found no evidence of child abuse.

In depositions, one nurse said Kennedy twisted her arm, and another said he kicked her. Surveillance video shows Kennedy, who is holding his son, entering a hospital elevator and then being blocked by two nurses. He is seen entering a stairwell while hospital staff is trying to catch him. A woman is seen being thrown on the floor.

An emergency room doctor who was present at the time of the incident, called the nurses "the only aggressors." Dr. Timonthy Haydock, who has been family friends with the Kennedys, said he did not feel the new father was putting his healthy child at risk by taking him outside for a quick walk.

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"No credible evidence" in Kennedy case

Kennedy, 45, and his wife, Molly, issued a statement in February that said, "Our simple desire to take our son outside for fresh air has been warped into a charge of child endangerment."

Kennedy is the 10th of 11 children of Robert and Ethel Kennedy. His father was assassinated in 1968. President John F. Kennedy, his uncle, was assassinated in 1963.

Kennedy's arrest was the beginning of a difficult year for the Kennedys in New York. His sister-in-law, Mary Kennedy, hung herself in May in Bedford. His sister, Kerry Kennedy, has pleaded not guilty to drug-impaired driving after an accident on Interstate 684.

[debbyt1-2009]

If Kennedy didn't like the rules set forth when he child was born in that hospital, he should have signed a statement relieving the hospital of any responsibility for the child and taken it home. He knew the rules.. all parents know the rules about where you can and can't take a newborn. He broke them, then tried to say "I just wanted to take the baby for freshair".. Do we look stupid?????? And it doesn't matter who was right or wrong, assault is assault...he was wrong.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

A defense lawyer said the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy acted instinctively to protect the baby...
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Protect the baby from whom? The nurses who had been caring for him? What a load.

[samdavis22]

There is no law that says a farther can not take his child out of a hospital. The hospital is there to serve the people. Bad hospital policy is not the Kennedy's problem. Parents rights come before hospital rules. If this had been me I would be suing the nurses and hospital for child endangerment. Everyone knows you don't come between a farther and his child.

[debbyt1-2009]

not true... the child is the responsibility of the hospital unless the parents signs the baby out Against Medical Advice. They could be sued for letting that child out the door if it had been hurt. Why was Kennedy so intent on getting the baby out when he knew the rules?? Jerk just thinks he's above the safeguards set to protect infants. He is NOT a good father..

[lekili54]

Pulling the Kennedy card is shameful. What makes him think he's above hospital rules set in place to protect newborns from abduction?
Yes, he's the father but the nurses were doing their job,had the outcome been any different I am sure the Kennedy Family would be singing a different song. Think about it!

[aubfmet]

But the friends of the Kennedy's will disagree with you.

[hamiltongrad]

Biden went to Las Vegas last year and demanded he be allowed to play golf at an exclusive private, members only club, even if he was not invited. And he did.

[hamiltongrad]

The point is that people break the rules all the time. We are a nation of rules, so many that it stops us from having fun. Good for him. And good for Biden!

[potter1097]

Technically, it's probably NOT lawful for the hospital to DETAIN the child, or try & stop the father from removing the child. However, there is a reasonable way to conduct yourself; with children being especially vulnerable & child abductions being fairly [unfortunately] commonplace, the hospital is also required by law to be diligent in their duty. This requires that the hospital check identities, and get medical clearances [that is, the nurses have to check with doctors]. The nurses were absolutely right in using force to stop Kennedy.

[trshmare]

I have been nursing in an acute care facility for over 45 years. I can guarantee that what the nurses did for the protection of the infant was not only policy but also the right thing to do. Had these nurses allowed a "man " to take a baby outside of the hospital and something happened, they would have lost their jobs and worse they would have had to live with the potential harm they permitted by not acting for the safety of a patient.

[uruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu]

What kind of father comes into a hospital and tries to waltz out the door with his infant to get fresh air??? What was going on in the hospital that he felt the child needed air?? If he really wanted to remove the child from the hospital then ask the doctor to discharge mother and child. This is just another case of the Kennedy family thinking that what they want to do is fine - they don't need to follow rules or protocol. The infant needed fresh air and why shouldn't his father take him out into the city and provide that for him. What a tool!

[matt6052]

Hospital policies are not laws. Did he violate policy? That's between him and the hospital. Did he break the law by repelling a physical attack designed to forcibly remove his child from him? Nope.

Although the hospital staff didn't know he was the baby's father, that doesn't make it illegal for him to repeal an attack. The hospital could always have refused to allow him to bring the baby back inside after it was exposed to the germy fresh air. That is their right.

[skeezix06]

If the nurses thought he was kidnapping a baby, their response was correct and reasonable. Kennedy was in the wrong on this one.

[matt6052]

Their reasonable conduct does not make his reasonable conduct illegal. The hospital said he violated local law when he repelled an attack. The hospital is wrong.

In fact what is at work is the primordial belief of a woman that she has a greater right to a child than any man, including the child's father. The nurses acted like they were troglodytes in a cave tens of thousands of years ago.