A Margaretville woman who was involved in a fatal accident Dec. 13 has been arraigned on charges of driving while intoxicated but not vehicular manslaughter, Delaware County District Attorney Richard Northrup said Friday.
Christine C. Arnao, 45, pleaded innocent Thursday to misdemeanor charges of aggravated DWI and a second DWI charge. The aggravated charge comes from allegedly having a blood-alcohol content of .18 or more.
The case will remain in Delaware County Court, Northrup said, where Arnao appeared with her attorney, James Hartmann.
Delaware County Judge Carl Becker released Arnao on her own recognizance and scheduled her trial for Oct. 13.
Jon J. Church, 31, died after he wrecked his vehicle on state Route 28, crawled out onto a roadway and was struck by two passing cars.
Church crawled out of the vehicle through the driver's side window, onto the pavement in the southbound lane and passed out on the road, Northrup said.
He added that the car was in the ditch at an angle, and the only way Church could get out was through the window.
Arnao, 45, was driving south and struck Church, dragging him into the northbound lane.
Jermaine Campbell, 21, of Kingston, was driving north on Route 28 and also struck Church, but kept going.
Arnao stopped her vehicle after hitting Church, said Lt. James Land of state police headquarters in Sidney.
Church, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Delaware County Medical Examiner Dr. Richard Ucci, died from blunt-force trauma, Land said.
Northrup said he presented the case to a Delaware County grand jury during an all-day session Thursday.
"I asked them to consider first-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, aggravated DWI and DWI, but they didn't indict on the manslaughter charges," Northrup said.
Northrup said he also presented the grand jury with the possibility of charging Campbell with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, but the grand jury opted not to indict.
Northrup said Campbell contacted state troopers at Margaretville the following morning, after he heard about the accident, and turned himself in.
He did not wash his car to remove the blood that was on it.
Campbell told the troopers that his attention was fixed on the lights of the three vehicles in the opposite lane. He saw Arnao swerve into the other lane to miss the car of a passerby who had stopped after seeing Church wreck his car.
"He said he did hear and feel a bump, but he didn't know what it was," Northrup said. "One of the people in the car with him said they thought Arnao might have hit a deer, and that they hit it, too."
Northrup said Arnao was also distracted by the lights of Church's car, which were at a 45-degree angle in the ditch, and the flashing lights on the car that was stopped in her lane.
"Nobody expected a pedestrian to be in the road," Northup said.
Northrup, who said he visited the scene of the accident, said it was a very dark night and that Church was dressed in dark clothing.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
