Connors Enters Not-Guilty Plea : Jurisprudence: Arraignment for former Hart High quarterback held a day earlier than scheduled.

Surrendering to authorities earlier than scheduled, former Hart High quarterback Ryan Connors pleaded not guilty to drunk and reckless driving charges Thursday in Newhall Municipal Court in connection with a high-speed car accident last month that injured two people--including one man who remains hospitalized.

Newhall-based attorney Tom Kascoutas said Connors--whose arraignment was scheduled for today--posted $25,000 bail and was released after the proceedings in Judge H. Keith Byram’s court. Connors’ next scheduled court appearance is Sept. 20 for a preliminary hearing.

The change of schedule allowed Connors--The Times’ 1991 Valley back of the year--to avoid the media presence that probably would have been present today at the Newhall courthouse. Kascoutas said the change was made for convenience.

“(Deputy Dist. Atty.) Dan (Damon) was here and I was here so we decided to get it done (Thursday),” Kascoutas said.

Connors, 19, is charged with felony counts of driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or above, and driving under the influence and causing injuries--with the special allegation of multiple victims. A misdemeanor count alleges reckless driving that caused injuries. Connors had not previously been arrested for drunk driving, according to a check of Department of Motor Vehicle Records in Sacramento.

Efforts to contact Connors on Thursday were unsuccessful. Connors’ family would not allow him to comment Wednesday after the filing of charges by the district attorney’s office. “(The situation) has been pretty tough on him,” Kascoutas said. “But he is a tough kid. He’s a good kid.”

Connors--who holds the Southern Section single-season passing record for yardage (4,144)--has remained free since the two-car accident July 23 in Newhall that left Gregory C. Moore, 30, critically injured. Authorities indicated they believe Connors might have been drinking and drag-racing at speeds in excess of 70 m.p.h.

Moore is a second-year graduate student from Sea Ranch, a seaside community about 100 miles north of San Francisco, studying music composition at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. Moore was transferred from Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles on July 31.

He suffered massive injuries in the accident, including fracturing both legs, his pelvis and an arm. Moore might lose sight in one eye, the result of major facial trauma, according to Thursday’s editions of The Signal.

Elizabeth Moore, Greg’s mother, and other family members have lived in motel rooms in Canyon Country and Los Angeles since the accident, she told the Newhall-based newspaper. They wait for Moore’s release from the hospital, which could take three or four more months.

Moore--a graduate of UC Berkeley--has undergone six surgeries and is facing more, including plastic surgery.

“It’s amazing he’s alive,” Moore’s mother told the Signal. “Everyone says he shouldn’t be.”

Elizabeth Moore said she is “livid” about the accident.

“Of course I’m thankful that he’s alive, but this never should have happened,” she said.