McKenna's Court Date for DWI Postponed, Pleads Not Guilty

Just about a month after he was charged, former Red Bank Mayor Edward McKenna Jr., through his attorney, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday morning to driving while intoxicated and related charges stemming from a May 13 crash on the Garden State Parkway, according to app.com.

Asking for a hearing postponement in order to have more time to review discovery in the case, McKenna's attorney, Edward Washburne, entered the plea in Tinton Falls Municipal Court where the court date was set due to the location on the parkway of the accident, according to the app.com story.

The two are expected be back in court in a couple of weeks, though no date was given, it added.

McKenna, 63, is facing driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and unsafe lane change charges lodged by the NJ State Police, who patrol the parkway, after "the investigation indicated that McKenna was traveling north in the express lanes of the parkway" near milemarker 108 at 9:50 p.m. on May 13 "when he lost control of his vehicle (a Mercedes), striking the right guardrail. After the vehicle struck the guardrail, it spun, facing oncoming traffic," State Police spokesman Sgt. Brian Polite said after the accident.

McKenna, a partner in the law firm McKenna, DuPont, Higgins & Stone, is also chairman of the NJ State Planning Commission and a member of the RiverCenter Board of Trustees.

He was mayor of Red Bank for more than a decade, from 1990 until 2006. He was also law director for Tinton Falls.