Countywide : D.A. Won’t Try to Keep Mannes in Jail

Ventura County prosecutors have dropped their effort to jail Diane Mannes, who struck and killed three young men on the Conejo Grade in 1989, while appeals courts decide whether she can be tried again for murder.

Mannes, 37, is about to complete a four-year prison term--reduced by good behavior--for injuring two other youths in the crash, which was blamed on drunk driving. But the jury deadlocked on whether Mannes was guilty of second-degree murder, and a federal judge ruled that she cannot be retried on that charge.

The district attorney’s office sought last week to keep Mannes in jail on $250,000 bail while prosecutors appeal the ruling. But Superior Court Judge James M. McNally said the ruling clearly prohibits keeping Mannes in custody during the appeal process.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn said Thursday that McNally’s decision will not be the subject of a separate appeal. “We think he applied the correct criteria,” Glynn said.

The U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on the retrial issue in December or January, but no decision is expected until next summer at the earliest. The losing side is expected to seek review by the U. S. Supreme Court, which could take an additional year, attorneys said.