Court waits for death certificate for defendant

Proceedings were continued for two weeks Tuesday to obtain a death certificate for 39-year-old Eric Thompson who died Nov. 17 in South Lake Tahoe while awaiting arraignment on a charge of attempted theft.

Prosecutor Erik Levin asked District Judge Dave Gamble to delay proceedings for official documentation of Thompson's death.

Thompson was to be arraigned on charges stemming from a vehicle break-in and burglary at Big 5 Sporting Goods in Minden on Sept. 14. He had been released from Douglas County Jail on his own recognizance.

Gamble set a status update for Dec. 21.

The El Dorado County coroner said a cause of death had not been determined, pending autopsy results.

Thompson testified Nov. 4 at a preliminary hearing on murder charges against James Kenneth Matlean, 23, accused of shooting 36-year-old Benjamin Oxley to death Feb. 21, 2008, as he slept in his Wildhorse home.

Thompson shared a Douglas County Jail cell with Matlean and testified that the murder suspect admitted shooting Oxley.

Defense attorney Ken Stover was to cross-examine Thompson, but he died before the Nov. 30 court date.