Rumsey guilty of manslaughter

Glenda Rumsey was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Tucson teenager Jose Rincon. This is fairly unusual, as juries rarely go for the higher degree murder charge, and instead usually opt for the less-serious Negligent Homicide (see here for a roundup of types of murder). Like many drunk drivers, she also tried to run.

Conviction on the higher charge was probably due to her being extremely extreme DUI (.249 two hours AFTER the collision).

The defense’s case seemed mainly about claiming that road defects caused the collision. This obviously didn’t pan out for them. The defense also didn’t get anywhere by mentioning the cyclists (there were two hit) had no headlights. Well, they were hit from behind — one who actually cares about the law is left to wonder if the victims met requirements for REAR facing visibility… i.e. a reflector. Apparently she was driving in the dirt, along the road, after missing the merge — which is where she struck the cyclists.

There was some other controversy surround  Ms Rumsey, something about her being out (and driving, of course) but she was caught with alchol in her system (the deal was she was supposed to not drink ANY).

So anyways, sentencing is Jan 20… should be interesting. manslaughter, plus some sort of assault, (leaving the scene — where did that charge go?). Judges tend to make the sentences run concurrently so as to get offenders back on the street as soon as possible.