DNA on cigarette defendant to serve one year term in alternative program

A Richmond woman whose DNA was found on a cigarette butt at the scene of a break-in will serve a year in a women’s Detention and Diversion program.

Melissa Dawn Miffleton, 27, of the 2100 block of Oregon Avenue, received the formal sentence during May 19 proceedings in New Kent Circuit Court.

Miffleton accepted a plea deal on April 13 to one count of burglary. Evidence presented indicated Miffleton broke into the house of Laurie Dunston with an unidentified male and stole items. As she left the scene, she flicked a cigarette butt onto the ground. With nobody in the Dunston household having the habit of smoking, New Kent detectives traced the DNA evidence back to the defendant.

While Miffleton said at sentencing she only drove the car and wasn’t a thief, Judge Thomas B. Hoover shot back at her and her statement.

“You went to these people’s house and items were stolen,” said the irate judge. “Even if you just drove the vehicle, you are still involved in the crime. Don’t give me that nonsense; you are a thief!”

Under the agreement, Miffleton received a 10-year prison sentence, with all time suspended pending her completion of the detention and diversion program.