Edmund Dinis, Prosecutor in Chappaquiddick Case, Dies at 85
Edmund Dinis, a former prosecutor who lost his bid for re-election in Massachusetts after his handling of the case against Senator Edward M. Kennedy in the accidental drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969, died March 14 in Dartmouth, Mass. He was 85.
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Librado Romero/The New York Times
His death was confirmed by Henry Arruda, the manager of WJFD-FM, the Portuguese-language radio station in New Bedford, Mass., that Mr. Dinis had owned since 1975.
Mr. Dinis (pronounced deh-NEES) was the district attorney for an area that included Cape Cod and the islands off the coast when a car driven by Mr. Kennedy plunged off a narrow bridge into a saltwater pond on Chappaquiddick, near Martha’s Vineyard, on July 18, 1969. Mr. Kennedy swam to safety, but Ms. Kopechne, a former secretary to Senator Robert F. Kennedy, drowned. The accident went unreported for about 10 hours.
A week later, after a medical examiner ruled the death accidental, Mr. Kennedy pleaded guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident. He received a two-month suspended sentence, and his driver’s license was suspended for a year....
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Enlarge This Image
Librado Romero/The New York Times
His death was confirmed by Henry Arruda, the manager of WJFD-FM, the Portuguese-language radio station in New Bedford, Mass., that Mr. Dinis had owned since 1975.
Mr. Dinis (pronounced deh-NEES) was the district attorney for an area that included Cape Cod and the islands off the coast when a car driven by Mr. Kennedy plunged off a narrow bridge into a saltwater pond on Chappaquiddick, near Martha’s Vineyard, on July 18, 1969. Mr. Kennedy swam to safety, but Ms. Kopechne, a former secretary to Senator Robert F. Kennedy, drowned. The accident went unreported for about 10 hours.
A week later, after a medical examiner ruled the death accidental, Mr. Kennedy pleaded guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident. He received a two-month suspended sentence, and his driver’s license was suspended for a year....