Trial for teacher’s death set for Monday

The trial for a woman accused of killing a Newport Beach elementary school teacher in a car accident will likely start next week, attorneys said Monday.

Attorneys for both sides will appear in court Monday ready to go to trial, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Mestman. They will most likely be put on call for most of the week, waiting for a courtroom to begin their case because of the backlog of cases in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana.

Prosecutors say Irvine resident Janene Johns, 53, hit and killed Eastbluff Elementary School teacher Candace Tift with her car while under the influence of prescription drugs in August 2006.

Both sides will likely make motions regarding submitted evidence, Mestman said.

Johns pleaded not guilty June 11 to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and driving under the influence.

Johns is accused of hitting Tift, a Costa Mesa resident, with her Lexus while Tift was riding her bike and walking her dog along West Coast Highway. About 7:30 p.m. Johns veered onto the sidewalk and hit 31-year-old Tift, who was not wearing a helmet, police said. Tift died later at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana from severe head and bodily injuries.

Tift is survived by her husband, Wade, and son, Owen.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.