OAKLAND — Nearly seven years after two cousins were killed in 2011 for a robbery of a suitcase full of marijuana, the retrial of a man accused of their murders began this week.
Kyle Puckett, 29, is accused of killing Raymond Greenwood, 20, of Oroville, and Joshua Crouseite, 22, of Fairfield, on Oct. 15, 2011, around 11:40 p.m. in the 1300 block of MacArthur Boulevard. In March 2016, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked 8-4 in favor to acquit Puckett after five days of deliberations.
But the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office decided to retry the case after the prosecutor, Butch Ford, spoke with the jury. The jurors believed at the time that Puckett was involved in the robbery of the marijuana, but incorrectly thought that if he did not personally murder the victims, then he was not guilty.
Although Ford argued at the time that Puckett was the shooter, he said the jury was not instructed about the law that says that even if Puckett was not deemed to be the shooter, he could still be found guilty of murder.
The law he was referring to was the state’s felony-murder law, which essentially states that people involved in certain serious felonies — such as a robbery, rape, or kidnapping — that lead to death, can still face murder charges, even if they did not intend to kill anyone. For example, if Tom and Jerry try to commit a robbery, and during that robbery Tom accidentally, or intentionally, kills someone, Jerry can also be charged with murder.
Puckett and Dashawn Rico were both charged with the two cousin’s murders, although Rico took a plea deal, pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter and faced 11 years in state prison. After Puckett’s first case was declared a mistrial in 2016, Rico tried to withdraw his plea, stating his medication he took at the time hindered his ability to make a clear decision.
A judge rejected the plea withdrawn, and sentenced him to 11 years in state prison in July 2016.
Puckett’s attorney in 2016 pointed out that jurors did not think there was enough evidence that deemed him the shooter at the time, and were concerned that a main witness was not present in court to provide testimony, but instead his testimony was read out loud from a previous hearing.
On Thursday, the jury heard testimony from another cousin of both Greenwood and Crouseite’s, Eric Brown. He drove the car with the suitcase full of marijuana to the apartment complex where both victims were shot. He testified that after he heard gunshots, he saw Puckett walk toward his car and bang on the window, saying “OG (original gangster) is trippin.” Puckett didn’t answer the man’s questions of where his cousins were at the time.
The trial resumes Monday with more testimony.