After reviewing the case and speaking with about a dozen witnesses, county prosecutors decided several days before the start of a scheduled jury trial to drop charges against a Chevy Chase woman accused of assaulting Kellyanne Conway last fall in a Bethesda restaurant.
The trial for Mary Elizabeth Inabinett, 63, was scheduled for Monday morning in Montgomery County Circuit Court but county State’s Attorney’s Office spokesman Ramon Korionoff said prosecutors had chosen not to move forward with the case days before Assistant State’s Attorney Kathy Knight told Judge Robert Greenberg the charges would be dropped.
“While there was touching, it was minor in nature and did not rise to the level of a prosecution,” Korionoff said in a statement. “We believe this resolution is the best result for all concerned considering the evidence, circumstances and nature of this incident.”
Inabinett was charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree assault following an Oct. 14 encounter at Uncle Julio’s Mexican from Scratch. She approached Conway yelling “shame on you” and other politically charged comments, according to court documents.
“Mrs. Inabinett chose that time and that place, inappropriately so, to make contact with Ms. Conway and vent her political opposition,” Knight said in court on Monday. “Mrs. Inabinett is a mature woman who’s never been arrested or charged with anything in her life. She has apologized for choosing this time and this place to vent her political opposition to Ms. Conway.”
Knight said Inabinett wrote an apology letter to Conway, although it has not been made public.
“Ms. Conway, like the rest of us in this room, should be entitled to go out to dinner and have dinner with your family and friends in peace,” Knight said.
Neither woman was in court Monday morning.
Inabinett and her attorney declined to comment.
An email request for comment sent to the White House press office Monday did not receive a reply.
