State will retry North Miami police officer accused of shooting unarmed man

New trial scheduled to begin June 3

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Prosecutors have decided to retry North Miami police Officer Jonathan Aledda on charges of attempted manslaughter and culpable negligence in connection with the July 2016 shooting of an unarmed mental health therapist who was with his patient at the time.

Aledda was found not guilty of one of the two counts of culpable negligence earlier this month; however, the jury was hung on the two more serious counts of attempted manslaughter and the other count of culpable negligence.

Aledda's defense attorney, Douglas Hartman, said he and his client were disappointed by the state's decision.

"Much to our disappointment, even though the jury voted 5-1 for acquittal, they are going to retry him," Hartman said. 

According to authorities, the mental health therapist, Charles Kinsey, was shot in the leg as he sat on the ground with his hands up next to his autistic patient, Arnaldo Rios. Police said Rios was playing with a silver toy truck, which a 911 caller thought was a gun. 

Aledda, 32, testified during his initial trial that Rios "was moving around the whole time" and pointed the toy, which Aledda also believed was a gun, in the direction of another officer before turning around and pointing it at Kinsey. 

He said he fired at that time, believing Rios was going to shoot Kinsey. 

Authorities said Aledda fired three shots at Rios, but missed and struck Kinsey once in the leg.

The count of culpable negligence Aledda was acquitted of was regarding him shooting at Rios. 

Aledda's new trial is scheduled to begin June 3.

 
 


About the Author:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.