OAKLAND — Just seven months after charging a man with murder in the 2017 shooting death of a 24-year-old woman, prosecutors have dismissed the case due to lack of evidence, court records show,
Randell Keith Jackson, 40, spent roughly four months in jail before the case was dismissed. He was charged back in January but the court proceedings weren’t initiated until May, when he was transferred to Alameda County jail from state prison.
The charges were dismissed Sept. 5, just before a court hearing where prosecutors would have had to publicly reveal the evidence against Jackson and call witnesses to testify. The hearing was set for late August but the Alameda District Attorney’s office requested a last-minute postponement, court records show.
Jackson was charged with murdering 24-year-old Arlene Delores George, who was shot and killed 7 a.m. on June 20, 2017. Police say she was killed inside a car near 32nd and Adeline Streets, and that her killer drove to the 2800 block of Hannah Street and dumped her body in the middle of the roadway there.
At the time, police said in court papers that “DNA evidence recovered from the scene, video surveillance recovered from the area, and witness statements” tied Jackson to the killing. Just days before the charges were dismissed, Jackson’s lawyer filed motions seeking to suppress evidence gleaned from an “illegal” police search and asked for a judge to order prosecutors to turn over more discovery.
The discovery request included information about witnesses, a search of Jackson’s property, and an undated incident where a man fired a gun at Jackson.
The Alameda County Deputy District Attorney who filed the case, Rebecca Warren, left the office last May with a resignation letter that blasted DA Pamela Price, calling her soft on crime. The Public Defender’s office, which represented Jackson, declined to comment.
After the case was dismissed, Jackson was transferred to Centinela State Prison, where he is serving a sentence for a robbery conviction out of San Francisco. He will be eligible for parole in 2030, court records show.
George was described in media reports at the time as a mother of a 6-year-old boy who lived in San Francisco.
Originally published at Nate Gartrell