Teen pleads not guilty in accident that killed two classmates

Bill Gang

Friday, April 10, 1998 | 3:18 a.m.

The 16-year-old girl charged in the Feb. 28 accident that killed two of her Eldorado High School classmates has pleaded not guilty and will appear May 18 in Juvenile Court for a contested hearing -- the equivalent of a trial.

Amber Carey, accompanied by attorney Bill Terry and her father, entered the plea Friday in the courtroom of Juvenile Hearing Master Sylvia Beller, who will preside over the non-jury trial.

Carey was driving north on U.S. 95 near Lake Mead Boulevard at speeds of up to 115 mph when the tire blew out, authorities have alleged.

The Nevada Highway Patrol said Carey's blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.07 percent -- less than the 0.10 required to prove drunken driving in either adult or juvenile courts but sufficient for charges to be filed in the juvenile system.

The highway patrol had recommended that Carey be certified as an adult for trial, but the district attorney's office decided the case should be handled in the juvenile system.

Prosecutors must meet the legal standards for drunken driving either through blood-alcohol levels or through actions or the failure to pass a field sobriety test.

With a blood-alcohol level lower than the statutory limit, it was expected that a conviction on a drunken driving charge would have been difficult to obtain. Because Carey was injured in the crash, she was not given a field sobriety test.

But in the juvenile system, there are penalties for underage drinking that can include institutionalization at the Nevada Girl's Training Center in Caliente.

Killed when Carey's car hit a wall were Olga Lopez and Kena Corbet, both 16.

Carey also had to be hospitalized with injuries, but a 14-year-old passenger, Samantha Jenkins, escaped serious injury.