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A judge has ruled that prosecutors produced sufficient evidence to have three men stand trial on murder charges for the shooting death of a Pinole man in Berkeley in December during a marijuana deal that went wrong. 

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon made his ruling on Monday at the end of a lengthy preliminary hearing for 18-year-old Khalil Phanor of San Leandro, Carl Young, 20, of San Leandro, and Gregory Foote, 19, of Hayward, for the fatal shooting of 36-year-old Kamahl Middleton in a parking lot near San Pablo and University avenues at about 9:45 p.m. on Dec. 29. 

In addition to murder, the three men will stand trial on robbery and assault with a firearm charges as well as the special circumstance of committing a murder during the course of a robbery, which carries a potential penalty of death or life in prison without parole. 

The assault charge stems from a gunshot that wounded Middleton's fiancée, Rebekah Cleberg, who was with him during the incident. 

Prosecutors allege that Young set up the botched marijuana deal, Phanor was the gunman and Foote was the driver. 

Cleberg was the prosecution's key witness in the hearing, which began on May 27 and spanned parts of five days, because she identified Phanor and Young but defense lawyers questioned her reliability. 

Cleberg said she and Middleton had a license to grow medical marijuana at their residence in Pinole and agreed to sell marijuana to a man who called them to respond to an ad they had placed on Craigslist about selling to qualified medical marijuana patients. 

The buyer, who she identified as Young, agreed to pay $3,200 to buy one and a half pounds of a strain of medical marijuana called "Girl Scout Cookies," Cleberg said. 

Berkeley was chosen as the place to consummate the deal because it was halfway between the Pinole residence where she and Middleton lived and the buyer's home in San Leandro, Cleberg said. 

She and Middleton only expected to meet with the buyer and his girlfriend and were surprised when the buyer showed up with three other males, she said. 

Cleberg said they felt reassured when a man whose face matched the photo ID of the prospective buyer approached their car. 

But she said the man, who she identified as Young, then asked to look at some of the marijuana and later tried to take a bag of marijuana. 

Cleberg said she and Middleton struggled with Young and then a man she identified as Phanor stuck his head into their car, said, "This is a stickup" and fired a single shot that struck Middleton and her. 

A 17-year-old suspect was also arrested in connection with the shooting but he's being prosecuted separately in juvenile court. 

Phanor, Young and Foote are scheduled to return to court on July 20 to have a trial date set.