XPost: misc.immigration.usa, alt.california, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: richn@yahoo.com   
      
   SANTA ANA – A San Diego woman sobbed and struggled to hold back   
   tears as she was convicted Thursday of causing a fatal freeway   
   crash while speeding and using her cellphone.   
      
   An Orange County Superior Court jury found Jorene Nicolas guilty   
   of manslaughter for the death of 23-year-old Deanna Mauer, a   
   former star softball player whose vehicle was rear-ended on   
   April 27, 2011, in near-standstill traffic on the 405 freeway in   
   Westminster.   
      
   Mauer’s family hugged each other and sobbed as the verdict was   
   read. After the hearing, Mauer’s parents said they initially   
   felt sorry for Nicolas, until they saw an interview where   
   Nicolas denied responsibility for the crash.   
      
   “She kept trying to blame my daughter for the accident, and my   
   daughter was just sitting there in traffic,” said Dawn Mauer,   
   Deanna’s mother. “Finally, my daughter’s name is cleared for   
   something she had nothing to do with. ... The truth is finally   
   here.”   
      
   Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said Nicolas was   
   driving at 85 miles per hour at the time of the crash. The   
   prosecutor also noted that Nicolas was both texting and calling   
   in the minutes leading up to the fatal collision.   
      
   Nicolas’ attorney, Joe Dane, described the crash as a “tragic   
   accident,” denying that his client was on her phone. Nicolas   
   previously claimed that Mauer had veered into her lane, causing   
   her to swerve and hit the freeway’s center divider.   
      
   The jury deliberated for less than a day before coming back with   
   their guilty verdict.   
      
   It was the second time that Nicolas was tried for Mauer’s death.   
   An earlier jury deadlocked, leading the judge to declare a   
   mistrial.   
      
   Nicolas struggled to keep her emotions in check after Thursday’s   
   verdict. She cried as her attorney and family members attempted   
   to console her. She again erupted in tears and sobs as she was   
   handcuffed and led out of the courtroom.   
      
   Judge Steven D. Bromberg denied Dane’s request for Nicolas to   
   remain out of custody while awaiting sentencing. The judge said   
   he took no pleasure in taking Nicolas away from her 4-year-old   
   daughter, but worried that she was a flight risk.   
      
   Nicolas, who faces up to six years in prison, is scheduled to   
   return to court for sentencing on Sept. 4.   
      
   Mauer, a former star softball player at Fountain Valley High   
   School and San Jose State, was an assistant coach at San Juan   
   Hills High School in San Juan Capistrano at the time her death.   
   She was heading home from an early morning shift at Whole Foods   
   when her Hyundai was struck by Nicolas’ Toyota Prius.   
      
   Dawn Mauer said she still thinks about her daughter every day.   
   Both Dawn and her husband, Howard Mauer, have tattoos in their   
   daughter’s memory. Howard Mauer’s shows Deanna’s face, while   
   Dawn Mauer’s shows her hand print.   
      
   Howard Mauer expressed hope that his daughter’s death and the   
   guilty verdict will bring renewed attention to the dangers of   
   texting and driving.   
      
   “It’s not worth a human life,” he said. “I think we have to   
   address this as a nation.”   
      
   Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com   
      
   http://www.ocregister.com/articles/nicolas-677351-mauer-   
   daughter.html   
      
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