Bangor - Patricia Giles, 51, of Brewer pleaded not guilty to charges connected with a deadly hit and run accident in Bangor in June.

Giles was arraigned at the Penobscot Judicial Center, Wednesday morning. She's charged with leaving the scene of an accident and falsifying evidence.

Police officials said Giles' car struck and killed Joshua Constantine, 37, of Bangor as he was crossing Main Street.

She reportedly took off after hitting him, and then turned herself into police more than a week later.

Outside of court, her attorney, Zachary Brandmeir, said that even though his client came forward, she pleaded not guilty because they're still waiting for all the facts in the case.

"I'm not going to make any admission on behalf of the defendant at this point. Again, we're waiting to see the evidence. We may need to hire experts, we may need to hire investigators, but again, the case itself is in a pretty preliminary state, so unless and until we're provided with all the evidence from the prosecution, there won't be any change in plea," said Brandmeir.

Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney, Mike Roberts, said Giles isn't facing more severe charges because there's not enough evidence to show she was criminally negligent.

Roberts explained, "To show something more serious, I would have to show that she caused his death either recklessly or through criminal negligence. We can show she left the scene of that accident, which is a felony because of the fatality, but we can't show that she acted recklessly or with criminal negligence in actually causing the fatality."

Giles did not have any comment as she exited court, but Brandmeir told us she is shaken up over what happened and is doing the best she can.

She has been free on bail since June.

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