Marin County Prosecutors Must Honor Murder Case Deal

A judge has ruled that Marin County prosecutors will have to honor a deal they made to reduce the charges against a murder defendant.

Yesterday´s decision means Richard Calkins will be spared a life sentence if he´s convicted because of information he provided about co-defendant Andrew Clayton.

Both were charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances in the shooting of Christopher Deming in Novato nearly two years ago.

Calkins´ attorneys claimed prosecutors led them to believe Calkins would face a lesser charge in exchange for videotaped depositions and other information. But then prosecutors didn´t reduce the charge.

The judge found the discussions between the district attorney´s office and Calkins´ lawyers amounted to a genuine deal.