MIAMI — Defense attorneys for Rashaun Jones dropped a bombshell Tuesday morning before opening statements were set to get underway in his trial for the murder of former Miami Hurricanes football player Bryan Pata.
Jones has been in jail for the past four years, accused of killing Pata, his 22-year-old teammate on the Canes, on Nov. 7, 2006 in Kendall.
Attorneys for the 40-year-old Jones presented what they said is new evidence they received on Friday, referencing an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they say involves a special agent, a confidential witness and a potential confession, all related to a hitman and Haitian gangs that they believe intersect with the victim.
“It includes specific language discussing what this confession said where he said, ‘I just killed that kid from the University of Miami,’” attorney Christian Maroni told the judge. “So now we have a specific statement linking that confession to the murder of Bryan Pata.”
Attorneys said they discovered the evidence late Friday. Prosecutors said they, too, received the evidence on Friday and called it “hearsay.”
Judge Cristina Miranda said she could not make a ruling without reviewing the evidence further and sent jurors out for an early lunch with a plan to return at 12:45 p.m.
“In this case, I think it is worth getting to the bottom of it because I think it could change the status, right now, of the trial and it is not prudent to move ahead with the openings just as of yet,” Miranda said.
Attorneys later deposed the special agent involved in the ICE investigation. Miranda released the jurors and told them to return on Wednesday.
After hearing what the special agent had to say, Miranda told the defense she did not believe it could overcome the state’s hearsay objection.
“I just don’t see how we’re going to get over the triple hearsay,” she said.
Jones maintains his innocence in the case. The jury is set to return at 10:30 Wednesday morning.
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