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Menlo Park resident Erica Barragan, 28, has pleaded not guilty to charges of felony drunken driving in connection with a multiple-injury accident early on the morning of June 10, 2007, at a road construction site on U.S. 101 near Marsh Road.
Ms. Barragan entered her plea at a March 26 arraignment before Judge Clifford Cretan in San Mateo County Superior Court, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
She remains out of custody on $50,000 bail. A jury trial is set for 8:45 a.m. July 28, with a pretrial conference on July 1 at 1:30 p.m.
Ms. Barragan is alleged to have been behind the wheel of a Lexus that had two passengers inside and that rear-ended a Ford Windstar with five people inside that had slowed for a construction zone marked with “numerous traffic cones and traffic signs,” Mr. Wagstaffe said.
The 1:30 a.m. collision forced the Windstar into a collision with a Volvo station wagon in front of it, which then collided with a another vehicle, he said. All five people in the Windstar were taken to the hospital with injuries, including lacerations that required sutures and a broken leg that has required 10 surgeries to repair, Mr. Wagstaffe said.
Officers found Ms. Barragan to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent, Mr. Wagstaffe said. The threshold at which a person is legally considered intoxicated is 0.08 percent. They also found an open bottle of tequila in the car, he said.
Officers also discovered drunken driving on the part of the Windstar’s driver, who was subsequently prosecuted, Mr. Wagstaffe said.
