Suspects Bound Over For Trial in Double Murder

A judge ruled today that there is sufficient evidence to order two men to stand trial on special circumstances murder charges in the fatal shooting of two cousins at an East Oakland apartment complex in 2011 in an alleged marijuana deal that went bad.

At the end of a preliminary hearing that spanned five days, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gloria Rhynes said the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses against Kyle Puckett, 26, and Dashawn Rico, 23, was credible and was supported by the evidence in the case. Defense lawyers argued that the prosecution’s witnesses weren’t believable, but Rhynes said the witnesses’ statements about the case were consistent even though they don’t know each other and didn’t compare notes before they talked to police and prosecutors. “Each of them talked about a murder involving a gun,” Rhynes said. Puckett and Rico are accused in the shooting deaths of Raymond Greenwood, 20, of Oroville, and Joshua Crouseite, 22, of Fairfield, in the courtyard of an apartment complex in the 1300 block of MacArthur Boulevard at about 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2011.

Rhynes ordered both of them to stand trial on two counts of murder plus two special circumstance allegations: committing a murder during a robbery and committing multiple murders. Prosecutors allege that Puckett fired the shots that claimed the lives of Greenwood and Crouseite. The case was unsolved for about three and a half years but authorities finally arrested Puckett and Rico on March 19. Prosecutor John Mifsud said today that Greenwood and Crouseite had marijuana and a witness testified that the incident was an attempt by Puckett and Rico to take it from them.

Oakland police Officer Leo Sanchez testified on Friday that one of the witnesses told police that Rico admitted after the incident that it was “a robbery gone bad” and that he’d been involved in “a robbery that resulted in a murder.” Puckett’s lawyer, Sam Yun, and Rico’s attorney, Darryl Stallworth, both argued today that the charges against their clients should be dismissed because there’s no physical evidence tying them to the crime. Yun said, “There is no case and my client has to be discharged.” Stallworth said, “This case is void of any physical evidence that connects my client to the crime.” But Rhynes said she believes the totality of the witnesses’ statements in the case are convincing enough to have Puckett and Rico stand trial. Puckett and Rico, who are being held at the Santa Rita Jail without bail, are scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on Dec. 8 to have a trial date set.

--Bay City News