A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge has dismissed the criminal case against Kino Springs resident George Alan Kelly, who was charged with second-degree murder.

Tuesday’s decision marks an especially strong conclusion to the Kelly case, with Judge Thomas Fink preliminarily dismissing the case, ruling that it cannot be retried.

In his ruling, Fink noted that the previous case against Kelly ended in a hanging with seven out of eight jurors voting for not guilty. He argued that Mr. Kelly would not be convicted in a separate trial.

“At best, there will be another hung jury. Perhaps another jury will acquit,” Fink wrote in Tuesday’s ruling.

Kelly, 75, was arrested on January 30, 2023, after leading authorities to a deceased person on his property in Kino Springs. The man was later identified as Gabriel Quen Buittimea, 48, a Mexican national.

County prosecutors alleged that Kelly fired at a group of illegal immigrants crossing his ranch, located about a mile and a half north of the U.S.-Mexico border. But the defense disputed that claim, saying Mr Kelly fired a defensive warning shot into the air after seeing armed men on his property. The defense also argued that Kelly’s gunshot did not kill Quyen Bouytimea.

Kelly’s trial began in March, with a jury of about 30 people including law enforcement officers, forensic experts, the Kelly family’s neighbors and an immigrant who said he witnessed the death of Kelly’s own wife, Quen Buitimare. The case lasted for a month while hearing from witnesses. Jurors also heard a series of 911 calls from Kelly, who hesitated for several minutes to tell local dispatchers about the body at the ranch.

After more than two days of deliberations, the jury informed Mr. Fink that it had not reached a verdict. On Monday, April 22nd, Fink declared a mistrial.

The government demands dismissal without notice.

Both the prosecution and defense had requested that the trial be dismissed. However, the prosecution requested that the case be dismissed without prejudice, considering the possibility of a retrial. Prosecutors argued that Kelly could make incriminating public statements in the future. New witnesses may come forward. And new jurors may have different political leanings, which could result in different verdicts.

But Fink bluntly criticized each of those reasons in Tuesday’s ruling.

“Defendant has consistently maintained his innocence…The likelihood that defendant will plead guilty in the future is speculative and highly unlikely,” Fink wrote.

Fink argued that any new witnesses would contradict the original testimony of Daniel Ramirez, the only witness to Quen Buitimare’s death by gunfire.

Mr. Fink weighed in on the prosecution’s argument about the juror’s political opinions, arguing there was no evidence that the jury was politically motivated.

“Furthermore, the jurors who attended this trial were demographically diverse…there were jurors of different ethnicities and ages from different parts of Santa Cruz County.”

Mr. Fink later ruled in favor of the defense, concluding that “in the interests of justice, we order that this case be dismissed with prejudice.”