MIAMI – A jury found Rafael Otano, a former Hialeah police officer, guilty of armed kidnapping and not guilty of battery on Tuesday night in Miami-Dade County court.
Attorney Michael Pizzi, who represented Otano, said he plans to appeal the verdict stemming from the detention, beating, and cover-up on Dec. 17 of Jose Ortega-Gutierrez.
“This whole case was about this guy getting beat up, and the jury just found that he is not guilty of beating him up,” Pizzi said. “The whole purpose of the kidnapping was to have a battery and assault. The jury found he wasn’t guilty of touching the guy.”
Miami-Dade County Assistant State Attorney Shawn Abuhoff disagreed.
“They specifically took him to a dumpsite and treated him like trash. They violated his rights, They betrayed this community,” Abuhoff said during his closing statement.
Pizzi said the case relies on the testimony of a suspect who lied and was unable to recognize himself during cross-examination. Pizzi also said the GPS data that investigators used was “garbage in, garbage out.”
“There is nothing faulty about the GPS data,” Abuhoff said.
During the trial in Miami-Dade County court, the jury learned from three Hialeah Police Department officers —Sgt. Javier Barrios, Detective Hilda Nubia Reyes, and Officer Jeffrey Abascal — who testified for the prosecution on Thursday.
Barrios, who was Otano’s supervisor on Dec. 17, and Reyes, who was involved in the police department’s internal investigation that followed, said Otano did not report detaining Ortega-Gutierrez and did not include it in his daily report.
Abascal said he and Otano were the assistant officers when they responded to Los Tres Conejitos bakery, at 1912 W. 60th St., to a report of an “intoxicated male that was bothering customers.”
Abascal said Officer Lorenzo Orfila, the assigned primary officer, found Ortega-Gutierrez in a liquor store nearby. Abascal said he searched Ortega-Gutierrez, grabbed his wallet, and gave it to Orfila before getting in his patrol car to follow the patrol car with Orfila, Otano, and Ortega-Gutierrez.
Abascal said he decided to stop following the patrol car at West 17th Court and 68th Street. Ortega-Gutierrez, who also testified during the trial, accused Otano and Orfila of taking him to a remote area of Miami-Dade County to beat him up and leave him there injured.
Ortega-Gutierrez was 50 years old when a Miami-Dade police officer reported finding him injured, and Ortega-Gutierrez told him Hialeah police officers were to blame. Detectives investigated the report, and prosecutors charged Otano and Orfila with armed kidnapping and battery.
Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr. and Hialeah Police Chief George Fuente terminated Otano and Orfila, who surrendered to face charges on Jan. 26.
Orfila is also facing a charge of official misconduct. He has yet to stand trial.
Ali Amin Saleh, a private investigator, later offered Ortega-Gutierrez money so he wouldn’t report the beating, according to prosecutors. Juan Prietocofino, a notary, was accused of fraud for notarizing an affidavit Saleh allegedly asked Ortega-Gutierrez to sign.
Saleh is facing a charge of witness tampering. Circuit Judge Robert Watson set Orfila’s bond at $20,000 and Otano’s bond at $10,000 on Feb. 13, and ordered house arrest.
In Florida, an armed kidnapping charge is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison, or up to life on probation and up to $15,000 in fines. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Andrea R. Wolfson presided over Otano’s trial.
Coverage of trial
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