Finley Fultz, whose murder charge was dismissed late last year by a Nevada County judge, because of prosecutors’ alleged mishandling of evidence, will stay in jail, pending the outcome of an appeal of the ruling. Deputy District Attorney Chris Walsh says the Third District Court of Appeal has granted their request for a permanent stay of the ruling, with the appeals process possibly taking about a year…

Fultz was the suspected triggerman in the shooting death of a mairjuana grow caretaker, in Penn Valley, in July of 2014. Walsh says the fact that the State Attorney General’s Office agreed to handle the appeal is a good sign that a retrial can eventually take place…

Walsh says he was caught off guard by the dismissal, issued just days after a mistrial was declared in December. He says there were less drastic legal options available for Judge Tom Anderson, including a retrial, which would have also allowed the evidence concerns to be resolved.