REDWOOD CITY -- A teenage driver was convicted Thursday of three misdemeanor counts of vehicular manslaughter for causing a freeway crash that killed three people, including two members of Tonga's royal family. She was acquitted of more serious charges.

Edith Delgado, of Redwood City, was driving a car that sideswiped a sport utility vehicle carrying Prince Tu'ipelehake, 55, his wife, Princess Kaimana Aleamotu'a Tuku'aho, 46 and their driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36, of East Palo Alto.

Prosecutors said Delgado, now 19, was racing another driver and hit the Ford Explorer while driving between 85 mph and 100 mph on Highway 101 in Menlo Park, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, last July 5.

A San Mateo County jury on Thursday found Delgado not guilty of felony charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and instead found her guilty of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.

If convicted of the felonies, she would have faced up to eight years in prison. She now only faces a maximum of three years in county jail.

Speaking from New Zealand on behalf of Tongan royal family members, lawyer Mele Tu'ilotolava said that while the family has expressed forgiveness, "they are hugely disappointed -- but inwardly."

"I'm quite surprised that she wasn't even charged with second degree murder," Tu'ilotolava said. "Her driving speed was horrendously high and she was racing against somebody else. That sort of conduct in my book fits quite close to manslaughter ... with gross negligence."

A sentencing hearing was set for Aug. 24.

Delgado has remained in jail since her arrest shortly after the crash because she was unable to post her $1 million bail. After the verdicts were announced, Judge John Runde lowered the bail to $40,000, and her family planned to post bail later Thursday, said defense attorney Randy Moore.

"This jury came back with the right decision," he said. "Whatever somebody would do to Edith, it's not going to bring those people back. It's not going to change anything."

Prosecutor Aaron Fitzgerald said he wasn't disappointed with the verdict because the jury still found Delgado "criminally responsible for killing three people."

"We respect the jury's decision," Fitzgerald said. "The jury listened to all the evidence and made a decision based on the evidence."

During the trial, prosecutors said Delgado, who received her driver's license just five months before the crash, had shown a pattern of dangerous speeding and previously had received a warning from her principal at Redwood High School to slow down.

The defense argued that the accident was not caused by negligence and described his client as an honor student who was on her way to visit a friend in the hospital when she slammed into the SUV, causing it to swerve across several lanes before rolling onto its roof.

Delgado was not injured in the crash. The other vehicle that she allegedly was racing with was not found.

"Edith is extremely remorseful and sorry for what occurred," Moore said.

Tu'ilotolava said the royal family are very forgiving people and "it's the nature of the Tongan people as well."

The sons of Prince Tu'ipelehake have sued Ford Motor Co., claiming the 1998 Explorer's unsafe design was primarily responsible for the deaths. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Santa Clara County Superior Court, claims the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker knew the SUV had a tendency to "roll over or flip in turning maneuvers."

Ford says tests have shown the Explorer's handling and stability are as good or better than other SUVs.

The royal couple had come to the San Francisco Bay area to discuss political reforms in the tiny South Pacific nation with members of the region's Tongan community. About 37,000 U.S. residents identified themselves as at least part Tongan in the 2000 Census; 15,000 of them live in California.

Prince Tu'ipelehake was a reformist in his views and was seen as leading the change in Tonga from a near-feudal monarchy to a more democratic political system, Tu'ilotolava said.

"His Royal Highness would have made a huge difference" to the process of political change under way in the kingdom,