CAMARILLO : Ruling Expected in Mannes Case

A Superior Court judge is expected to decide today whether the case against Diane Mannes, charged in the drunk-driving deaths of three young men in 1989, should be dismissed because her right to a speedy trial has been denied.

Mannes, 38, initially was tried for murder in the accident on the Conejo Grade near Camarillo. In November, 1989, a jury found her guilty of driving under the influence, but jurors deadlocked on the murder counts and a judge dismissed the counts.

Prosecutors sought to recharge her with murder, but two federal courts have ruled that the judge’s action constituted an acquittal and that a retrial for murder was precluded by double jeopardy. The U. S. Supreme Court refused last month to consider whether Mannes should be retried for murder.

Prosecutors now intend to retry Mannes on gross vehicular manslaughter charges. Defense attorneys for Mannes argued Thursday before Judge James McNally that the case should be dismissed because prosecutors did not obtain a stay on the federal court order when they took the case to the Supreme Court.

Under state law, the defense attorneys argued, prosecutors had 60 days to bring her to trial and that period had elapsed.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Don Glynn argued that another judge already had refused to dismiss the case on similar grounds.