Former student pleads no contest to fatal drunken driving charges

A former MSU student pleaded no contest Tuesday to drunken driving charges stemming from an August 2008 accident that caused a three-car collision, killed her passenger — another MSU student — and severely injured three others.

Rumrill

Former interdisciplinary studies in social sciences junior Melissa Rumrill initially was charged with felony counts of manslaughter and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, which caused death, in addition to two counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said.

Those charges stem from an early morning accident Aug. 20, 2008, when Rumrill reportedly drove the wrong way on U.S. 127, resulting in a three-car collision that killed then MSU chemistry junior Joe Barton at the scene and injured three others.

Witnesses said Rumrill and Barton had been drinking the night of the accident and were heavily intoxicated.

At Tuesday’s hearing before Ingham County Circuit Court Chief Judge William Collette, Rumrill pleaded no contest to one count of drunken driving causing death and one count of drunken driving causing serious injury, Dunnings said. The manslaughter charge and the second charge of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury were dismissed, Dunnings said.

Because Rumrill took part in a plea agreement, her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6, Dunnings said. She is being held in the Ingham County Jail as of Tuesday.

Charles Kronzek, Rumrill’s attorney, declined to comment.

“Pleading no contest (is) the exact same thing as if she pled guilty,” Dunnings said. “Her level of intoxication was such that, in order to plead guilty, you have to be able to say what you did, but when you are significantly intoxicated, you can’t remember, so you can’t take an oath and state facts about something you don’t remember.”

Dunnings said under the plea agreement, the prosecuting attorney and Kronzek agreed to recommend that Rumrill receive the minimum sentence of 30 months in prison, although she potentially could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years.

It is up to the judge to decide how severe Rumrill’s sentence will be.

Barton’s mother, Kathy Barton, said she’d prefer not to comment until Rumrill’s sentence is final.

“The only thing I can say is that we follow (the case) daily,” she said.