Michael Gil Truscott, 31, was arrested in October 2009 for the shooting death of 30-year-old Anthony Cruz on Sept. 4, 2009, as Lake County News has reported.
But on Monday the case was dismissed, according to Stephen Carter, Truscott's defense attorney from the Carter & Carter Law Offices in Lower Lake.
“That means that the District Attorney's Office has realized that they cannot prove their case based on the witnesses and investigation they have to date,” Carter said.
Carter added, “Without going into detail, it is safe to say the prosecution had some huge witness credibility issues to overcome.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said that the case is not going to be closed, and that the investigation is continuing.
“Since charges were originally filed, we conducted an extensive amount of investigation that has resulted in other information that we were previously unaware of,” he said.
Because of that information, Hinchcliff said the District Attorney's Office didn't believe it could convince 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Truscott committed the charged offenses.
“We've come to the point where if we take this to trial now, we believe there's a strong likelihood that we're going to lose this case,” he said.
If that were to happen, jeopardy attaches, and Truscott couldn't be recharged in the future, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said that, because of the ongoing nature of the investigation, he couldn't discuss other possible suspects.
Cruz was at the window of his Spruce Avenue home in Clearlake when he was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest, according to police reports.
Clearlake Police Department investigators alleged that Cruz was confronting someone in his yard who was allegedly stealing marijuana from him when he was fatally shot.
Carter said marijuana trimmings were recovered at the scene, but a firearm was never located.
Truscott was arrested and charged based in part on a confrontation he allegedly had with Cruz in public several weeks before the shooting, Carter said. It was alleged that Cruz beat Truscott severely during that fight.
When Truscott was located and arrested a month and a half after the shooting he was in a state prison in Tracy on a parole violation.
Truscott was placed on a parole hold as a result of prior convictions against him and booked into the Lake County Jail on Nov. 23, 2009, where he has remained since on $1 million bail.
Carmen Walsh, a 40-year-old Clearlake resident, was arrested as an accessory after the fact in the homicide. Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine said the case against Walsh was dismissed on Nov. 6, 2009, due to lack of evidence.
DeChaine also wouldn't comment further on the case, noting, “The investigation had not stopped since the night Mr. Cruz was killed.”
The dismissal came about a month before the case's jury trial – which had been expected to last eight weeks – was set to begin, Carter said.
Carter said he was pleased with the result. “My view has always been that the state of the evidence was such that this case was going to end in either a dismissal or an acquittal at jury trial,” and it was a good decision to save potential jurors the time and expense of a lengthy trial.
On Monday morning Truscott remained in custody at the Hill Road Correctional Facility in Lakeport. A remaining violation of probation charge also was handled Monday and Truscott was released from custody by day's end.
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