Grand Rapids man free after sentencing for fatal 2007 crash
After dismissing a charge of negligent homicide and ordering an early end to probation, Isabella County Trial Court Judge Mark Duthie gave Marshall Calvin Hudson some advice.
"Good luck to you, sir,"he said.
Hudson, 60, of Kentwood, walked away from Duthie's courtroom on Wednesday with no legal strings attached and only a conviction for reckless driving following an April 2007 crash that killed a Blanchard woman.
He appeared with his son-in-law for a sentencing hearing delayed one year as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
In Sept. 2007, Hudson pleaded no contest to negligent homicide and reckless driving. He spent 15 days in jail, received 2 years of probation, 200 hours of community service and paid $1,940 in fines and costs during the delay.
Because of his "impeccable"record and prompt payment of fines and completion of community service, the negligent homicide charge was dismissed, said Isabella County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Roy Kranz.
"He's got like the perfect background, as far as being a good citizen," Kranz said, citing Hudson's two tours in Vietnam, thirty years employment at General Motors, master's degree in finance and past college teaching positions. "He just used poor judgment, drove when he was tired and ended up killing someone."
That someone was Jennifer Marie Malley, 20, of Blanchard, who was airlifted to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids on Sunday, April 29, 2007, after colliding head-on with Hudson's truck around 6:40 a.m.
Hudson told Isabella County Sheriff's deputies that he was reaching for a sandwich when he drifted across the center line of Blanchard Road, near the Gilmore Road intersection in Fremont Township.
According to the police report, Hudson, driving westbound in a 1997 Ford F-150 pickup truck, veered right to avoid a collision with Malley, driving eastbound in her mother's 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Malley, unfortunately, veered left.
Hudson told deputies that Malley was conscious immediately following the crash, complaining of pain in her leg. She died on May 3, from injury complications.
A 2006 graduate of Beal City High School, Malley was a full-time student at Mid Michigan Community College and worked as a dietary aide for Central Michigan Community Hospital at the time of her death.
Hudson, who was driving home from the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, received only minor scratches and refused medical attention on the scene. He did not have alcohol in his system, according to the report.
"Mr. Hudson is a good man and his heart is heavy," said Jeffrey O'Hara, Hudson's attorney, during the hearing. "He's been in counseling and he knows the tragedy he caused. He deals with it every day."
O'Hara said that Hudson arranged an out-of-court restitution agreement with Malley's family, agreeing to pay them 25 percent of his net income for the rest of his life. There were no members of the family in attendance during the sentencing.
"I've never heard of anything like that,"said Kranz. "He's not a young person who is going to be able to work for another 30 years, but the fact that it's going to impact him and his family for the rest of his life is appropriate."
Outside of the courtroom, Hudson initially appeared willing to answer a couple questions, but declined after O'Hara interceded, advising him to say nothing.
Hudson is a former adjunct professor at Davenport University in Grand Rapids.
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