MIAMI — Miami-Dade jurors will see a 2023 police interrogation video of Derek Rosa, then 13, confessing to stabbing his mother to death, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
The Hialeah teenager’s defense team had been seeking to exclude the video from his pending murder trial, in which he will be tried as an adult.
Judge Richard Hersch heard arguments Monday and Tuesday before ruling against a motion to suppress filed by attorneys for the now-15-year-old Rosa.
He’s facing a first-degree murder charge after Hialeah police said he stabbed his 39-year-old mother, Irina Garcia, 46 times as she slept at their apartment at 211 W. 79th Place on Oct. 12, 2023.
Rosa’s attorneys argued that the video of the police interrogation should be excluded from the trial, claiming the teenager had a lack of “experience and intelligence” to understand the implications of his statements.
“He has a previous diagnosis of ADHD,” attorney Dayliset Rielo said Tuesday. “He has been diagnosed with autism. I would submit to the court that he is emotionally incognitive ― cognitively immature."
Prosecutors pushed for the interview to remain in.
“Being autistic has no application and has no bearing on his comprehension, his level of education, his intelligence,” Assistant State Attorney Jonathan Borst said. “Autism is a social disorder and it is not a cognitive disorder.”
Hersch telegraphed his ruling in remarks to Rosa’s defense team.
“The detective says to him, ‘If you want to have a lawyer, I can’t go further with this. Do you want to terminate this interview?’ And your client says, ‘Yes,’” Hersch said. “I mean, that just seemed to indicate a very direct question which implicates a knowledge of his ability to do it.”
Hersch also ruled against a push from Rosa’s attorneys to further delay the trial.
With jury selection for the high-profile trial set to begin on Jan. 20, the judge discussed courtroom decorum and potentially relocating jury selection to another courthouse.
That’s because Rosa has a number of fervent supporters who show up at court hearings wearing “Justice for Derek Rosa” shirts.
Hersch said he will ban those shirts ― or anything similar ― in court as he wants to ensure a fair and impartial jury.
“Everybody is absolutely entitled to their opinion. My concern is a jury being subject to influences outside of this courtroom,” he said. “We’re going to not allow partisan positions on clothing in the courtroom.”
Once jurors are selected, Hersch said he’s considering having them park in a remote area and be shuttled to and from the courthouse by sheriff’s deputies, to mitigate against them being exposed to partisan views about the trial.
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