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Drunk Driver Guilty in 5 Deaths

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Times Staff Writer

A 28-year-old woman who killed five Santa Clarita Valley residents while driving drunk two years ago pleaded guilty Friday to five counts of vehicular manslaughter.

Phyllis Hall of Monrovia pleaded guilty in San Fernando Superior Court to one count of felony drunk driving and five counts of vehicular manslaughter after prosecutors agreed to drop murder charges against her.

As part of the plea bargain, Hall will be sentenced to the maximum five years, eight months in prison when she appears before Judge Richard A. Lavine on June 7.

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Hall, a former model, was arrested on June 4, 1983, after the Mercedes-Benz she was driving north on Interstate 5 in Valencia broke through a highway divider at a curve and became airborne. Her car landed on the hood of an oncoming sedan that was carrying six passengers.

Investigators said Hall was traveling 100 m.p.h. at the time of the accident.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Speer, who is prosecuting the case, said tests done more than 90 minutes after the accident showed that Hall had a blood-alcohol level of 0.25%, more than double the 0.10% level considered legally drunk.

Killed in the accident were Ronald Baker, 23, Karin Paige, 19, and her sister, Loretta, 18, all of Canyon Country; and Kevin Johnson, 19, and John Thompson, 20, of Valencia. The only survivor of the crash was 21-year-old Diana Notroberta of New York.

Hall, who suffered minor injuries, has been in custody in lieu of $200,000 bail since her arrest.

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