A San Francisco woman pleaded not guilty in Sonoma County Superior Court this morning to DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges stemming from a crash near Guerneville last week that killed two women and injured three others.
Lyndsay Murray-Mazany, 27, is charged with two counts each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI.
She also faces 13 enhancements including causing great bodily harm to a person age 70 or older and causing injury or death to multiple victims.
Deputy District Attorney Robin Hammond said Murray-Mazany, an administrative assistant at a real estate company, faces 20 years in prison if convicted of all the charges and enhancements.
Hammond said the district attorney’s office has not offered any plea agreement to settle the case.
Murray-Mazany was driving a 2004 Hyundai south on Geyserville Avenue at about 5:30 p.m. July 18 when she failed to negotiate a 90-degree curve and struck the left side of an eastbound 2001 Subaru Forester, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Two 77-year-old Cloverdale women riding in the Subaru, Beverly Jones and Nancy McBride, were killed on impact.
The driver of the Subaru, Katherine Hinzman, 56, of Cloverdale, and two other passengers, Alice Sheperla, 82, and Barbara King, 70, suffered moderate to major injuries, according to the CHP.
Murray-Mazany told the CHP she and three passengers in her Hyundai had been wine tasting in the Dry Creek area near Geyserville. No one in her car was injured.
Sonoma County Assistant District Attorney Diana Gomez said Murray-Mazany’s blood-alcohol level at the crash site was 0.10 percent, and 0.09 percent a half-hour later. The level at which a person is considered intoxicated is 0.08 percent.
The women in the Subaru had attended a play at Santa Rosa Junior College and were heading to Geyserville for dinner, according to the CHP.
Judge August Renee Chouteau this morning raised Murray-Mazany’s bail from $100,000 to $200,000. Murray-Mazany has been out of custody, and her attorney Chris Andrian said she would post the additional bail today.
The judge also ordered her not to consume alcohol or drive a vehicle.
Andrian said the Department of Motor Vehicles took away Murray-Mazany’s driver’s license but issued her a temporary license after the crash.
Murray-Mazany did not have any prior DUI arrests, Andrian said.
“This is a complete nightmare for everyone involved,” Andrian said.
