Judge Refuses to Dismiss Charges in Fatal Crash

A Ventura County judge Thursday refused to dismiss murder charges against Diane Mannes, who was driving drunk when she was in an accident that killed three young men on the Conejo Grade in 1989.

Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele’s ruling was the latest development in a case that has already been heard in half a dozen state and federal courts.

Mannes, 38, of Somis, was convicted in November, 1989, of drunk driving and causing great bodily injury to two youths who survived the crash. But the jury could not agree on whether she was guilty of second-degree murder in the three deaths.

The trial judge, Robert J. Soares, dismissed the murder charges, and two federal courts have ruled that the judge’s action constituted an acquittal. The district attorney’s office has asked the U. S. Supreme Court to overturn that ruling so prosecutors can retry Mannes for murder.

Last week, Mannes’ public defenders--Neil B. Quinn and Robert Dahlstedt--asked Steele to dismiss the murder charge. They argued that when prosecutors took the case to the Supreme Court, they neglected to obtain a stay on the federal court order. Under state law, the defense attorneys argued, prosecutors had 60 days to bring Mannes to trial and that period had elapsed.

In his ruling Thursday, Steele admitted that he was “not absolutely certain about this.” He agreed that the stay had expired, but said the 60-day period did not begin until Sept. 2, giving the prosecutors--Michael D. Schwartz and Donald C. Glynn--another month to bring Mannes to trial. Steele said defense attorneys should have obtained a federal court order directing the Superior Court to dismiss the case.

Dahlstedt said afterward that he would quickly go to U. S. District Court in Los Angeles and ask for such an order. Schwartz said prosecutors were still analyzing the judge’s decision.

Steele set the case for trial Oct. 13, but said a number of things could intervene, such as Supreme Court action. The high court begins a new term Monday and is expected to announce soon afterward whether it will hear the case.