Hearing Delayed for Woman Charged in Death of Softball Coach

A preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday in the case a San Diego woman charged of popular assistant softball coach Deanna Mauer was delayed until July 17.

, 29, of San Diego is accused of speeding northbound on Interstate 405 near Edwards Street in April 2011. Proscuters believe she was distracted and inattentive while driving and failied to notice that the traffic ahead had come to a complete stop.

Nicolas is also accused of failing to brake or slow and crashing at approximately 80 mph into the back of Mauer's Hyundai sedan, which was just starting to move after being at a full stop in traffic.

Assistant District Attorney Troy Pino told Superior Court Judge Debra Carrillo that some discovery in the case was still pending, and that he had subpoenaed cell phone records from Sprint. Nicolas' attorney has maintained that his client, who , was not on her phone prior to the crash, and that Mauer may have contributed to the accident.

Mauer family attorney Doug Scott said that a civil mediation will take place in the case sometime next week. Mauer's mother, Dawn, said after the hearing that she looks forward to putting the trial behing her, and that she's confident the evidence will absolve her daughter of any blame.

"I'm getting through the days the best I can, just waiting to get this done," Mauer said. "I just want to make sure that justice is done for my daughter, and that I miss her every single day. I just want it to come out that she had nothing to do with the accident as far as causing it. Once it's all over, hopefully the truth will come out."

Scott and Mauer also said that they hope the case will shed light on the issue of distracted driving and that the state should consider creating tougher laws against drivers who talk or text while behind the wheel.

"I say treat them like a DUI," Mauer said. "Throw them in jail the first time, and the second time, throw them in jail and impound their car. It doesn't just affect them. It affects lots of people."