Hopkins said he agreed with Hughes' attorney, Stuart Hanlon of San Francisco, to continue the hearing for the motion after Hanlon told him that two witnesses whom he says are paramount to the venue motion were not available.

Hughes, 22, of San Francisco, is scheduled to stand trial beginning May 1 on murder charges stemming from the shooting deaths of two of his companions.

The two men were shot to death during an alleged attempt to steal marijuana from Shannon Edmonds in a pre-dawn break-in at Edmonds' home in Clearlake Park in December 2005.

Edmonds actually pulled the trigger on the Browning automatic that killed Rashad Williams and Christian Foster. But Hughes is charged with their murder on the basis of a law that holds perpetrators of a felony responsible for deaths involved if the felony is judged as one that would likely result in a lethal response.

Today's continuation is the third for Hanlon's change of venue motion.

E-mail John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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