A Hermitage woman charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter in the death of another Hermitage woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday at her arraignment before Trumbull County Judge Peter Kontos.

Catherine Settlemire, 41, of 630 Chesapeake Court, was charged Jan. 28 by the Ohio Highway Patrol after a Jan. 26 crash on Standard Avenue in Masury. Police said the car she was driving crossed the center line and hit a car driven by Margaret "Peg" Snyder, 72, of Stevenson Road in Masury. A passenger in the Snyder car, Yvonne Edwards, 71, of 5070 Cassidy Road in Hermitage, died later of accident-related injuries, police said.

Ms. Settlemire was originally charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault, but the charges were reduced to misdemeanors by a Trumbull County grand jury Feb. 1, after results of Breathalyzer and field sobriety tests were thrown out.

The breath test results were thrown out because the Breathalyzer machine, owned by the Brookfield Police Department, was a day overdue for its state-mandated calibration test when the OHP used it. Brookfield police said they tested the device one or two days after Ms. Settlemire's test, and the machine calibrated perfectly.

Paperwork showed the Breathalyzer reading shortly after the collision showed Ms. Settlemire's blood alcohol level was 0.144; Ohio's legal limit is 0.1.

According to an OHP report, Ms. Settlemire admitted to having "four or five beers." She told police she had left a downtown Sharon bar and was going to see a friend on Second Street in Masury, but her friend was not home, so she was returning to Pennsylvania when the crash occurred.

The field sobriety test was thrown out because Ms. Settlemire broke her ankle in the crash, said Ken Bailey, Trumbull County assistant prosecutor.