A second man accused in the shooting death of Anthony Smith — a case that has come under intense scrutiny after several people involved were linked to Mayor Rob Ford — had his charges stayed Tuesday.

Hanad Mohamed, 23, was one of two men originally charged with first-degree murder in Smith’s slaying outside the Loki Lounge nightclub on King St. in March. Muhammad Khattak was also wounded in the shooting.

Nisar Hashimi, also 23, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault in June, after he surrendered to police. He is currently serving a nine-year sentence.

That was just a month after the Star and the Gawker website broke a story about a video showing Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, alongside a picture of the mayor posing with 21-year-old Smith, Khattak and a third man, Monir Kassim.

The plea came just weeks after police executed dozens of search warrants across the city in a guns and gang sweep called Project Traveller, which netted more than 50 arrests — including that of Khattak and Kassim, alleged members of the Dixon City Bloods.

Crown attorney Mary Misener said Tuesday there was no reasonable prospect of conviction in Mohamed’s case, and there was “no evidence” to proceed.

Mohamed’s charges were earlier downgraded to accessory after the fact to manslaughter, accessory to discharging a firearm, and accessory to aggravated assault.

Mohamed has maintained his innocence and has been out on bail since July. He is currently in Edmonton and did not immediately hear that his charges had been dropped, said lawyer Fariborz Davoudi said. “I’m sure he’ll be delighted to hear the news.”

Davoudi told the Star that his client had no connection to Smith and “got caught up in an investigation that had nothing to do with him.”

Mohamed is a friend, “in a loose sense,” of Hashimi, he said.

An agreed statement of facts read at Hashimi’s sentencing said Hashimi had opened fire on Smith and Khattak (who is Hashimi’s cousin) and that the group had an ongoing dispute.

Hashimi was said to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs and was acting in self-defence.

Davoudi defended his client and distanced the young man from Ford and the Project Traveller investigation.

“Hanad Mohamed is not a gang member. He was a young, respectable fellow,” Davoudi said, adding he was employed as a security guard in Fort McMurray at the time of the incident and had come to visit family in Toronto when the shooting happened.

Davoudi said Mohamed is not connected to the police investigation that has probed Ford’s inner circle following the Traveller sweep and which recovered the deleted crack video.

“Mr. Ford was totally alien to him,” Davoudi said, adding Mohamed also had no connection to the house at 15 Windsor Rd. where the picture with Ford was taken, alleged by police to be a “crack house.”

Police documents released last year show at least one staff member believed Smith’s murder might be connected to the crack video.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

David Price told former chief of staff Mark Towhey about a call he received that a cellphone that had the video on it belonged to Smith and that it was “motive for his murder.” That information was relayed to police.

Those allegations have not been tested in court.

But investigators quickly determined that the video was not the motive, based on information already gathered about the murder.