A man arrested earlier this week in connection with a Guadalupe homicide will not be criminally charged, according to a prosecutor with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.

Miguel Angel Aguilera is free from custody because there was insufficient evidence to hold him in jail, said county sheriff's Sgt. Alex Tipolt on Friday.

The decision on whether to charge Aguilera rested with the District Attorney's Office, Tipolt said.

Gene Martinez, chief assistant district attorney for the North County, said Friday, “We reviewed the evidence and determined there was not sufficient evidence to charge him with anything.”

Aguilera, 28, of Guadalupe was taken into custody Monday on suspicion of the murder of 24-year-old James Michael Christie of Santa Maria.

Christie was fatally stabbed once in the upper torso with a knife on Aug. 16 when a fight escalated in front of a liquor store in the 700 block of Guadalupe Street, law enforcement officials have said.

Aguilera was not among the four suspects authorities initially named in the homicide case.

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Four days after Christie's death, detectives revealed they had arrested two men and were seeking another two suspects.

On Tuesday, deputies arrested Francisco Javier Rodriguez Jr., 30, of Guadalupe on suspicion of Christie's murder. Authorities earlier had identified him as a suspect, and he turned himself in to sheriff's deputies in Santa Maria, Tipolt said.

Jose Juan Morales Jr., 27, of Guadalupe was arrested Aug. 20 after Guadalupe officers on patrol saw him leaving his house. That evening, deputies nabbed another suspect after a short pursuit on Highway 166 east of Santa Maria.

Arturo Franco Palomar Jr., 25, of Guadalupe was taken into custody after he had been seen driving in the Nipomo area, authorities said.

The three defendants remained in county jail Friday with their bail set at $1 million as to Rodriguez and Morales, and $1,030,000 as to Palomar.

One suspect, Leonel Adrian Torres, 24, of Guadalupe, is still being sought in connection with the fatal stabbing, Tipolt said.

Rodriguez, Morales, Palomar and Torres were the four suspects authorities initially named in the case.

Tipolt said he does not know what led investigators to Aguilera.

Martinez, the case prosecutor, said that Aguilera was not involved in the fight with Christie. However, he appeared in a surveillance video of the incident, Martinez said.

“His involvement did not warrant formal criminal charges,” he said.

Martinez said it is “not unusual at all” for someone to be arrested but not charged by the District Attorney's Office.

He said that happens because law enforcement must have probable cause in order to arrest someone, but the District Attorney's Office has to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The District Attorney's Office filed a murder charge against Rodriguez on Thursday, Martinez said.

He said Rodriguez is due back in Superior Court in Santa Maria on Sept. 11.

Rodriguez, Morales and Palomar are all due back in court on Sept. 29 for a preliminary hearing, Martinez said. The three defendants are charged with murder, and Palomar is also charged with a special allegation that he used a knife.

Anyone with information about Torres' whereabouts is encouraged to call the Sheriff's Department at 934-6170 or the Guadalupe Police Department at 343-2112 during business hours, or 9-1-1 after hours.

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@santamariatimes.com. Associate Editor Janene Scully contributed to his report.

August 30, 2008