San Diego
Special circumstances allegations that could have led to the death penalty for the alleged killer of a police officer were dismissed Wednesday.
A trial date for Stacy Butler, 28, and five other gang members recently charged with conspiracy and murder may be set today in San Diego Superior Court.
Butler’s first trial ended with a hung jury June 19 with jurors deadlocked 6-6.
Butler and the five co-defendants were indicted by a county grand jury on Sept. 17.
San Diego Police Officer Jerry Hartless, 24, was shot in the forehead on Jan. 9, 1988, after chasing a gang member in Southeast San Diego. He died three weeks later without ever gaining consciousness.
Clifton Cunningham, 29; Edrick Jordan, 27; Kyle Winters, 27; Darryl Bradshaw, 29, and Kevin Standard, 27, are all charged with conspiracy to attack a rival gang shortly before Hartless was slain.
The prosecution has alleged that Butler was the gunman. If Butler is convicted of first-degree murder at retrial, he would face a sentence of 25 years to life in prison instead of the death penalty or life without parole because the special circumstances allegations were dropped.
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