Citing a 1923 case, a judge said Thursday he had no choice but to dismiss a murder charge against Gustavo Tapia, an Oxnard man accused of the 2006 stabbing of 28-year-old John Orrantia in Ventura.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Edward Brodie ruled after Tapia's lawyer, Ron Bamieh, filed a motion to dismiss the case because prosecutors had not charged his client within 15 days after a preliminary hearing, as the law required.

"This is still a good law from 1923 to today," the judge said his research indicated.

New arraignment scheduled

Prosecutors, however, were expected to refile the murder charge, so it was very unlikely that Tapia would be released from custody, officials indicated.

The judge scheduled an arraignment on the new charge today.

Tapia's trial was expected to begin next week, and Bamieh and Senior Deputy District Attorney Stacy Ratner were filing pretrial motions in court Thursday when Bamieh filed the motion to dismiss.

The judge said he was obligated to follow the law, and — if the trial ends in a conviction — an appeal could reverse any jury verdict, which would make the trial a waste of court time.

Ratner declined to comment on the case as she left the courtroom.

Attorneys debate their cases

She told the judge that the motion by Bamieh amounted to "form without substance," and she described it as a "last-ditch effort" to postpone the case.

Bamieh retorted: "What happened here today is symptomatic of the whole case. It is just sloppy, sloppy prosecution. It's just a disorganized mess."

Bamieh contends Tapia is not guilty and that it was Tapia's longtime friend, Peter Rodriguez, 34, who fatally stabbed Orrantia, a Ventura man, and his brother, Orlando Orrantia, on Jan. 15, 2006.

The Orrantias became involved in an altercation with Tapia after John Orrantia mistakenly entered Tapia's vehicle after a party. The vehicle looked nearly identical to a nearby car driven by John Orrantia's girlfriend.

The case has had some twists and turns.

Rodriguez was initially charged with Orrantia's murder, too.

Later, the murder charge against Rodriguez was dropped, and he was put in the witness protection program.

Rodriguez testified against Tapia at the preliminary hearing, and in exchange he was given immunity from prosecution for the stabbing of a person in March 2006.

While in the witness protection program, Rodriguez and his family were paid $1,000 a month for six months along with getting his rent paid, according to Bamieh.

Later, Rodriguez stopped talking to prosecutors and, according to Bamieh, "strong-armed" the landlord and stole the rental deposit that belonged to the county. Rodriguez was rearrested in Ventura County on March 7 after the murder charge was refiled against him.