An attorney for suspected gang member Brian Hicks has filed a motion to dismiss charges of attempted murder for a June 2005 shooting, saying the "essential witness" is now dead.

Hicks' name has surfaced in multiple criminal cases. Police have said Hicks' SUV was the vehicle used in the New Year's Day drive-by shooting of Denver Bronco Darrent Williams. Hicks was in jail when that shooting occurred. Hicks also is named in a federal drug indictment. His attorney in the federal case has said Hicks doesn't know who had his SUV or who killed Williams.

Kalonniann Clark, the victim in the 2005 shooting, told police Hicks shot at her near downtown Denver in 2005. She was shot and killed outside her apartment in December 2006, five days before she was scheduled to testify against Hicks at trial.

Hicks was in jail on drug charges at the time. His attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said today that Clark's testimony would have cleared Hicks' name if she were alive to testify. But Assistant District Attorney Dave Carpel said prosecutors have taped statements from two witnesses that may be used against Hicks, as well as "hours and hours" of taped phone calls Hicks made from the jail, parts of which are relevant to the case.

Denver District Judge William Robbins is expected to consider the motion to dismiss at a Sept. 6 hearing. The trial is currently scheduled for Sept. 10.