DUI manslaughter and DUI property damage charges were dropped against a 22-year-old man stemming from a July 2005 crash that killed an Englewood teenager.

However, 12th Circuit Court Judge Deno G. Economou may still determine there is enough evidence to try Shawn M. Minor for vehicular homicide in August.

Economou dismissed the DUI-related charges against Minor on Tuesday. He was expected to issue a ruling on the vehicular homicide charge Friday, but did not do so.

If convicted, Minor could be sentenced up to 15 years in prison.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Minor, driving a 2004 Ford pickup, strayed onto the eastbound shoulder of East Dearborn Street near Stratford Road and hit and killed Kelvin Jackson, 15, just after midnight on July 21, 2005.

Jackson and friend, Bruce Gordon, had gone to Englewood Bowl on State Road 776 for teen night.

They were walking back to Gordon's home at 381 E. Dearborn St. -- only a few blocks away -- when both were struck by Minor.

Gordon was hit by the pickup's side mirror and suffered only minor injuries.

Jackson was thrown onto the truck's hood and then onto the road. He was taken to Englewood Community Hospital where he was declared dead.

Minor was not charged in the accident until March 2006 when blood test results from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab detected marijuana in his body.

However, state prosecutor Wyndel Darville said Thursday, the DUI-related charges were dismissed after Minor's attorney, Bertram Danheiser, presented evidence that his client was not impaired when the accident occurred.

Darville said FDLE lab results were challenged by findings from a University of Florida lab that contend marijuana "detected was not significant enough" to influence Minor's driving.

He said during depositions, nurses and other medical professionals at Englewood Community Hospital testified that "they didn't notice any sign of impairment" in Minor after the accident.

Darville said based on this evidence, Danheiser successfully filed a motion to dismiss the DUI charges because the state could not "prove the element of recklessness due to impairment."

Nevertheless, he contends the vehicular homicide charge against Minor is strong enough to warrant a trial.

"Given the prevailing condition of the vehicle with balding tires, traveling at a speed that was unsafe for those conditions on a two-lane road at night, you have a driver that was reckless in my mind," Darville said.

He said the impetus is on the defense to prove there is not enough evidence to support charges before a trial.

"There is sufficient evidence to proceed," Darville said. "We get the benefit of the doubt."

Of course, during a trial, the onus is on the prosecution to prove a defendant is guilty of those charges.