NORTH COUNTY COURTS
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A woman accused of being drunk and high while crashing head-on into a car on state Route 76 in December and killing four people now faces the possibility of four consecutive life terms in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors increased charges against Deanna Fridley yesterday in Vista Superior Court to four counts of second-degree murder, each of which would carry a 15-years-to-life maximum penalty, Deputy District Attorney Brenda Daly said.
Fridley, 24, had been charged with four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
A trial date of Feb. 17 has been scheduled.
The collision Dec. 14 killed Rubi Baez, 46, and Luis Baez, 51, of Vista and Jesus De Santiago, 45, and Lina De Santiago, 46, of Escondido. A relative said the couples had been out for a night of dinner and gambling at North County casinos.
According to authorities and testimony at an earlier hearing, Fridley had a blood-alcohol content of 0.127 percent and methamphetamine in her system when the crash occurred. The legal blood-alcohol limit to drive is 0.08.
A California Highway Patrol Officer testified in May that surveillance video at Pala Casino showed Fridley getting into the driver's seat of a GMC Yukon SUV at 11:47 p.m. and a passenger, Anthony Boles, getting in the other side. The collision happened a few minutes later about two miles east of the casino.
The CHP originally arrested Boles, thinking he had been driving. Boles testified in May that Fridley was driving fast and bounced off a guardrail before crossing the center line while rounding a curve.
J. Harry Jones: (760) 737-7579; jharry.jones@uniontrib.com
