The second-degree murder trial of a Lake Charles man police say fatally shot a man four years ago came to a halt Thursday in state district court when two key witnesses for the prosecution couldn’t be located.

Michael Ja’rel Tutson, 25, is accused of killing Damion Derrelle Jackson, 32, on Aug. 29, 2013. Tutson has been in jail on $500,000 bond since his arrest.

Prosecutor Ross Murray told Judge David Ritchie on Thursday, outside the jury’s presence, that authorities had exhausted their leads in the last couple of days in trying to find the witnesses, and he asked for a recess.

“An open-ended recess?” said defense attorney Michael McHale. “If that’s the case, I move for a mistrial.”

Ritchie gave McHale and Murray time to confer before asking them if there was any way the trial could move forward.

“No, there really isn’t,” Murray said. “Law enforcement has checked every hotel and motel in the area, as well as previous addresses for the witnesses, and talked to their family members and acquaintances and they have not been found. Detective Franklin Fondel did reach one of them by phone, but the witness hung up on him.”

Police said Thursday that they continue to search for the witnesses, Marcus Dewayne Handy, 23, and Lee James Gibbs, 25. The court has issued a pickup order for Handy and a bench warrant for Gibbs.

“These are two witnesses who were under subpoena and just didn’t show up,” McHale told Ritchie.

“It’s unreasonable to expect the jury, as well as everyone else, to wait for an unspecified date when these witnesses may be located. And an extended delay also would put my client in a double-jeopardy situation.”

Ritchie said he understood the dilemma and agreed that a lengthy delay wouldn’t be appropriate. Double jeopardy refers to prosecuting someone twice for the same offense.

“I’m going to grant a brief recess in this trial, but in my 14 years here it’s the first time I’ve granted a recess because of a witness situation,” Ritchie said.

The jury was brought into court and told that there was an “unexpected delay” in the trial.

Ritchie said that if the witnesses can’t be located by 9 a.m. today, he would likely declare a mistrial.

Gibbs

Handy