The wife of “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary has been found not guilty in the criminal trial over a 2019 boat crash in Canada that killed two people.
The verdict was delivered in a live-streamed hearing in Parry Sound, Ontario on Tuesday.
In finding Linda O’Leary not guilty, the judge rejected any suggestion that she had been impaired by alcohol at the time of the crash, TMZ reported.
Despite the ruling, Linda is still facing a wrongful death suit by family members of one of the victims killed in the collision.
Linda and Kevin were riding on Lake Joseph in Ontario when they crashed into another boat, killing Susanne Brito, 48, and Gary Poltash, 64, and hurting three others. Linda was allegedly driving the vessel when it slammed into the larger, 13-person watercraft. She was officially charged in connection to their deaths in September 2019.
“Late Saturday night I was a passenger in a boat that had a tragic collision with another craft that had no navigation lights on and then fled the scene of the accident,” O’Leary had told TMZ after the crash, adding, “I am fully cooperating with authorities.”
Documents reportedly showed that cops had administered an alcohol screening test to Linda that registered an alert. She then told authorities she drank vodka after the crash but before she took the breathalyzer test. She also claimed she could not recall who gave her the liquor after the fatal crash.
With the judge ruling that her alcohol consumption had no role in the crash, an acquittal will reportedly be entered in the case.
Kevin’s rep did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
With Post Wires