“The Real Housewives of Potomac” star Karen Huger was convicted by a jury Wednesday on seven of eight charges prosecutors brought against her relating to a DUI that took place last March.
The convictions include driving under the influence, negligent driving, failure to control her vehicle’s speed to avoid a collision and failure to notify authorities of a change in address; she was acquitted of reckless driving. Huger, 61, may face up to two years in prison when she is sentenced on Jan. 29.
The inciting incident took place March 19 in Potomac when Huger, driving her 2017 Maserati, struck a median and crosswalk sign at an intersection before colliding with a parking sign and stopping just off the roadway.
Body camera footage from the crime scene, which was shown during the trial and released to the public Wednesday evening, shows Huger speaking to police in front of her destroyed car.
“Can you answer everything for me?” Huger asks her husband, Raymond Huger, who arrived to the scene after the crash occurred.
After being asked how much alcohol she had consumed that evening, Huger’s husband responds on her behalf: “They’re assuming you had more than you should have. I’m assuming you had a couple of beers or something like that,” he told Huger and the police officer.
Huger, who calls herself the “Grand Dame of Potomac,” refused to participate in a field sobriety test or use a breathalyzer.
As she was dropped off at the police station, the reality TV star asks an officer, “Do you know who I am?” Struggling to get out of the car and into the station, Huger remarks to the same officer: “Oh God, I’m lit.”
In later footage at the police station, Huger slurs her words and appears confused. “I will stay in jail for a year or two,” she says defiantly. “I am Thomas Jefferson’s concubine.”
Huger’s attorney, A. Scott Bolden, told TMZ that Huger and her team were “disappointed in the jury’s verdict” but “of course respect their decision and appreciate their time hearing our case.”
He added, “We continue to reserve Mrs. Huger’s right to an appeal and intend to fully pursue justice on her behalf.”
Huger’s DUI has been a major talking point on Season 9 of “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” which is currently airing. Huger has been in the hot seat, repeatedly defending herself and maintaining her innocence. The reality TV show was filmed between April and August of this year, but the reunion for the show has not yet taped. Huger’s conviction will likely be a hot topic.
The reality TV star has repeatedly blamed the incident on her grief over the death of her mother, Georgia Raines Wooden. Wooden died in 2017.
In a preview of Sunday’s new episode of “Real Housewives,” guest star Jacqueline Blake appears uninvited at a party Huger has thrown with eight balloons in tow to signify “the weight of the eight citations” that Huger was charged with.
“I know that your heart has been heavy with all that you’ve been going through,” Blake says, before Huger kicks her out. “We want to release them into the atmosphere so they can go away.”
It doesn’t appear the gesture worked.
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