A Trinity County Superior Court judge ruled on Wednesday that there is sufficient evidence to hold Ferndale resident Cody Baker to answer on multiple felony charges, including four counts of murder.

Baker, 26, is also being held to answer on most of the original charges filed against him, including four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and five counts of driving under the influence causing injury.

The case dates back to the night of Aug. 31, 2007, when Baker, then 25, was reportedly speeding and lost control of his car and crashed near Ruth Lake. Four of the five young Humboldt County passengers died in one of the most tragic crashes in recent years that affected many in the small towns of Ferndale, Garberville, Rio Dell and Scotia.

Baker was found to have alcohol in his system (.17 blood alcohol content) and after being released from a Redding hospital, was arrested and charged with four counts of murder, five counts of felony driving under the influence causing injury and driving on a suspended or revoked license.

Baker pleaded guilty in early March to lesser charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and drunken driving as part of a plea deal, but Judge Anthony Edwards rejected the deal last month.

The plea bargain meant Baker would serve 10 years and eight months in prison, but he now faces the possibility of a jury trial and either spending more or less time in prison.

He will be arraigned on the counts on May 27 at the Trinity County Courthouse and remains in jail. Edwards found there wasn’t sufficient evidence to hold Baker over on a misdemeanor charge of failure to have insurance and an enhancement of causing great bodily injury to the surviving passenger, Zachary Diamond.

Those who died include Jessica Toste, 23, and 21-year-old Nathan Titus of Ferndale, 19-year-old Stevie Shroyer of Garberville and 20-year-old Stephanie Hubbard of Scotia.

Before the judge’s ruling, attorneys questioned witnesses about the events on the night of the crash, the safety of the curve Baker lost control on while driving, and the defendant’s background, among other items. Nearly 30 people sat in the courthouse for Baker’s hearing, including many of the victims’ and defendant’s relatives.

The group of friends reportedly went to Ruth Lake to camp for Labor Day weekend. On the night of Aug. 31, the group reportedly drove to find a party near the lake, but couldn’t locate it and ended up going to Journey’s End, a local tavern. After leaving, Baker drove the five passengers toward the lake, but ended up losing control of the car on a curve, going over an embankment and, ultimately, into the lake.

Wayne Fackrell, a detective with the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department, testified that Baker’s voice was irregular and he slightly smelled alcohol on him when his statement was taken, after the bodies were removed from the lake. “He said he was not doing well, he had just screwed up his life for the next 15 years,” Fackrell said.

The first emergency responders told Fackrell that Baker and Diamond were attempting to overturn the car, which was upside-down in the lake, when they’d arrived, he said.

A California Highway Patrol officer who responded to the scene a couple hours after, testified that a witness said Baker had drank “one or two” beers the afternoon of the drive from the coast to the lake.

Another member of the CHP testified that after investigating the crash, it was determined Baker was driving about 59 mph on a two lane highway, which is designated as a 55 mph zone. No mechanical defects were found in the car, there were no signs that seat belts had been used by the back seat passengers, and those in the front were wearing mechanical shoulder belts, but not the lap belts, he said.

There were reportedly no warning signs of the curve ahead and no guardrails, which Sanders argued may have saved lives.

A bartender who was working the night of the incident, testified that Baker’s friends told her that he was the sober driver. She said he played pool and didn’t finish the one beer he’d ordered before leaving.

“He looked sober, he looked kind of annoyed with everyone else,” Julie Moris said.

A traffic accident reconstruction consultant said the curve on Ruth-Zenia Road is a trap for motorists who don’t know the road and aren’t clued in by signage. Thomas Shelton said a safe or “comfortable” speed for the curve would be 35 mph.

Sanders argued there wasn’t sufficient evidence to establish the murder charges and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated charges.

“What we have here is a situation where someone was going four miles over the speed limit,” Sanders argued before the judge’s ruling.

Deputy District Attorney Eric Heryford pointed to Baker’s DUI conviction in 2004 and the fact that he was driving on a suspended license.

“He was aware of the dangers,” he said. “This accident was a result of Mr. Baker’s driving.”