Maybe a few judges are just starting to think women should be responsible for their decisions

A 30-year-old Lake Elsinore barmaid who allegedly caused the death of an off-duty sheriff's deputy riding with her when she crashed her car must stand trial for murder, a judge ruled today.

Jessica Marie Cuevas, of Menifee, is accused of second-degree murder in
the death of Riverside County sheriff's Deputy Clay Peters, 36, of Fallbrook,
on May 5.

Cuevas was originally charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence but Deputy District Attorney John Davis successfully argued before Riverside Superior Court Judge John Monterosso that she should stand trial on the more serious charge of murder because of her occupation.

As part of her job at the Bikini Beach bar in Lake Elsinore, Cuevas had received specialized training in how to spot intoxicated patrons and should have known the dangers of drinking and driving.

Cuevas now faces 15 years to life in prison, instead of the six for the manslaughter charge.

Monterosso raised Cuevas' bail to $1 million from $75,000.

According to testimony today at a preliminary hearing, Cuevas and Peters
had been drinking vodka and cranberry cocktails before getting into her Honda
sedan.

Cuevas lost control of the car while driving at about 60 mph on Lake Street in Lake Elsinore and struck a cement pole, kept going and struck a tree, according to sheriff's traffic Deputy Fred Bommer.

A picture displayed during Bommer's testimony showed Peters pinned inside the car, a tree intruding into the passenger side window.

When the picture came up on a viewing screen, Cuevas put her head down and began to cry.

Bommer testified that Cuevas told her the couple had been socializing at a Lake Elsinore motel and having some drinks before they left to go to her job, where Peters was supposed to talk to her boss at the Bikini Beach Bar.

It was unclear what the talk was to be about, but it was not about a job for Peters, Davis said outside court.

The boss was not there and the couple left without drinking anything, Cuevas told Bommer.

The two then stopped at a friend's house, and had left there and were driving on Lake Street, when the deputy began ``groping'' Cuevas and she lost control of the car.

``Jason was playfully groping her and she tried to slap his hand away,'' Bommer said.

Bommer also testified that investigators searching the motel room Cuevas and Peters had used found a fifth of Vodka ``virtually empty.''

A copy of a receipt produced by the prosecution at today's hearing indicated the bottle had been bought that night at a supermarket.

Bommer said a preliminary investigation showed that no brakes had been applied after the car hit the pole and before it wrapped around a tree.

Cuevas broke her leg in the crash and was still on crutches today.

Blood testing specialist Maureen Black testified that Cuevas had a blood alcohol level of .14 percent when she was tested less than two hours after the crash.

The legal limit is .08, she said.

Black said a person with a blood alcohol level of .14 percent loses judgment behind the wheel of a vehicle.

``Peripheral vision could be lost,'' Black said.

``There would be slower eye movement,'' Black said, adding that color discrimination and driving skills would be severely restricted.

The alcohol level could induce a driver to ``throw caution to the wind,'' Black said.