The driver of a vehicle that struck and killed an undergraduate in Connecticut last May pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and two other charges at a hearing in Litchfield, Conn.

Steven T. Driscoll, the 28-year-old driver of the car, was leaving a bar around midnight on May 22 when he swerved to the right, hitting pedestrians Sarah T. Craig '99, Lucy Yen '99, Jennifer R. Weiss '99 and Ruby Hsu '99. Craig died in the hospital after a brief coma.

The four undergraduates had been visiting Craig's home in Norfolk the weekend before final exams.

Driscoll originally pleaded not guilty to the four charges, which also include assault in the third degree with a motor vehicle and a motor vehicle infraction. He will be sentenced on November 15 and faces a maximum sentence of 11-and-a-half years in prison, according to Assistant State's Attorney David S. Shepack.

Craig's mother, Valerie Craig, said yesterday she believes that Driscoll is facing a lighter sentence because he was drunk when he hit and killed her daughter.

"Being drunk is an excuse because second-degree manslaughter carries a 10-year sentence and third-degree assault carries a one-year sentence maximum," she said.

"The way the laws are written, driving drunk is still used as an excuse," Valerie Craig said. "He does not have to answer the questions that a murderer has to answer because his excuse is 'I was drunk.' For instance, he doesn't have to answer why he turned his vehicle towards them because he can say it's assumed he was drunk, he didn't know."

According to Valerie Craig, drunk driving offenders are also often required to serve only half their term because of various programs available to them.

The sentence is also usually lessened when the defendant plea bargains, as Driscoll did, she said.

On Sunday, Valerie Craig met with 12 of her daughter's friends in Weiss' Dunster House room. She urged them to write letters to the judge "telling him not only about the special attributes that Sarah had but also their feelings about the fact that the law excuses manslaughter if you're drunk, to an extent," she said.

In addition, Craig's mother will make a victim's plea to the judge that Driscoll be barred from driving during his probation.

Connecticut law normally returns driver's licenses to drunk driving offenders after one year, even if they have caused a fatality, Valerie Craig said.

"The only way I can keep [Driscoll] from driving is to ask the judge to make it a condition of his probation that he's not allowed to drive while he's on probation," she said.

Four Months Later

Craig's mother said it has been impossible to resume life as normal since her daughter's death.

"It's been horrible. It's just been a nightmare to lose [my] daughter," she said.