MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A Miami-Dade County jury found a man guilty on Wednesday of an unprovoked attack on Sept. 20, 2020, in Miami’s Metromover.
It was the second time Robert Ribbs, 62, the defendant, and Eduardo Fernandez, 74, the victim, waited for a jury to make a decision.
Surveillance cameras recorded when Ribbs suddenly punched and kicked Fernandez, who didn’t have a chance to defend himself, police said. Fernandez was hospitalized with a head injury and bone fractures.
Officers arrested Ribbs on Sept. 22, 2020, and prosecutors charged him with aggravated battery, battery with great bodily harm, battery on a person 65 years of age or older, and strongarm robbery.
“The only thing I remember is that I was minding my own business, happy,” Fernandez said on Tuesday in Spanish in court.
Fernandez had testified in court before. Defense attorneys claimed Ribbs was not the attacker. Last month, jurors failed to reach a verdict after two days of deliberations. Judge Daryl Trawick issued a mistrial.
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