Coleman, who was appointed a public defender in court Tuesday, entered a not-guilty plea to charges that include murder in the first degree in the death of her daughter Kesha, as well as gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI causing bodily injury and child cruelty.
Deputy District Attorney David Uyar told NBC 7 that Coleman is being charged with murder instead of vehicular homicide because of applied malice theory -- prosecutors believe she knew that driving under the influence was dangerous and knowingly put her kids at risk.
Uyar told the court that, according to preliminary hospital results, Coleman had a blood-alcohol content of 0.167 at the time of the crash, and traces of other drugs were found in her system as well, including cocaine, amphetamines and marijuana.