VENTURA : Court Stays Murder Trial for Mannes

The U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a stay on a murder trial for Diane Mannes, who was driving drunk when her car plowed into five young men on the Conejo Grade in 1989, resulting in the deaths of three.

The stay was ordered Friday to give the U. S. Supreme Court time to decide whether to hear an appeal by the Ventura County district attorney’s office. Prosecutors plan to appeal a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court that affirmed another judge’s decision to dismiss the murder charges. Mannes, 38, was convicted in November, 1989, of drunk driving and causing great bodily injury to two other youths. She was sentenced to four years in prison.

But the Ventura County Superior Court jury deadlocked on whether she was guilty of three counts of second-degree murder. Judge Robert J. Soares, the trial judge, dismissed the murder charges, saying he did not think that the evidence supported them.

Seeking to retry Mannes for murder, the district attorney has appealed the case to the U. S. Supreme Court, after two federal courts ruled that Soares’ action constituted an acquittal.

Meanwhile, the case circled back to Superior Court, where defense attorneys tried to have the case dismissed, saying that the speedy-trial period of 60 days after the federal court ruling had expired. However, Superior Court Judge Allan Steele ruled that the time had not expired, and set the case for retrial on Oct. 13. Friday’s stay freezes the case until the high court decides whether to hear an appeal, attorneys said.