Christopher Hunt was charged in 2021 with murder, but earlier this year a judge found that prosecutors had failed to meet their burden to advance the case past an early pretrial stage.
OAKLAND — Seventeen months after he was arrested and charged with murder, an Oakland man was freed from jail when a judge determined there wasn’t ample evidence against him, court records show.
Christopher Hunt, 37, was originally charged in the September 2021 shooting of 41-year-old Kanawa Long, of Hayward, based on eyewitness statements and video surveillance showing a Volvo speeding away from the homicide. But after Hunt’s preliminary hearing, Judge Kevin Murphy found prosecutors had failed to reach the low bar of probable cause required to advance the case further.
Murphy’s ruling was made in February but has not been previously reported. Hunt’s lawyer, Marvin Lew, didn’t return requests for comment. Before the hearing, Lew filed court papers accusing Oakland police of filing false or misleading statements in court. Lew’s motion says a detective filed an affidavit saying the shooter was seen running toward a Volvo, when he was actually seen running in the opposite direction, and that surveillance footage showed the Volvo’s driver wearing black pants that matched Hunt’s clothing, when the pants were actually gray.
Long was shot and killed shortly before 4 p.m. Sept. 16, 2021 on the 2400 block of 57th Avenue in East Oakland. Social media posts about his death said he attended San Lorenzo High School. Hunt was arrested days later and remained in jail until his preliminary hearing.
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