MIAMI — Attorneys for the man accused of killing a University of Miami football player say the lead detective testifying during his February murder trial was also posting anonymous social media comments during and about the proceedings ― possibly violating a court order.
The revelation, if true, could have a big impact on an upcoming retrial.
Veteran Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Detective Juan Segovia was the lead investigator probing the 2006 murder of Bryan Pata, 22, and was a star witness for prosecutors in the trial of Rashaun Jones, who was arrested 15 years after the killing.
Jurors deadlocked ― leading to a mistrial ― and Jones, 40, is now set for a May 18 retrial.
Attorneys for Jones said they discovered that Segovia was behind an anonymous Instagram account ― using the handle “balanceof_justice” ― and was using it to post comments about the case, mainly on videos posted by Local 10 News.
A court filing states that comments posted on Local 10 clips included one that said a witness was “lying” and another that said, “I’ve watched a lot of the trial, he’s guilty as sin.”
Defense attorneys presented evidence from an “open-source intelligence investigation” conducted by an outside firm suggesting the account, which made prejudicial comments about Jones and a witness, could be traced to Segovia through his phone number, email and IP address.
They said the account also follows Segovia’s spouse and longtime police partner, as well as many others in the South Florida law enforcement and legal community.
Attorneys allege that the comments show that Segovia was violating a court order declaring “that witnesses are prevented from tailoring their testimony to match or contradict other witness testimony” and that it proves that Segovia “was watching the trial proceedings and witness testimony.”
Read the court filing:
Judge Cristina Miranda granted a motion Monday that prevents him from deleting the account or any comments.
Local 10 News has not been able to independently view or verify the report.
There are now a number of questions surrounding Segovia and the upcoming retrial, including whether the longtime lawman will be held in contempt, what will become of the case itself and whether jurors in the next trial will hear about his alleged social media comments ― including whether they will be used to impeach him.
Defense attorneys could use the comment to deeply discredit the believability of a major state witness.
Local 10 News contacted Segovia, who is also a member of the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees, seeking comment. We were still waiting to hear back as of Monday afternoon.
Besides commenting on the trial, Jones’ defense attorneys included an Instagram comment in their filing that they said was of Segovia hyping up his own appointment to the MDC board.
On an MDSO post announcing Segovia’s swearing-in, they said “balanceof_justice” posted a comment calling MDSO “impressive.”
Officials with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said in an email that it would be inappropriate for them to comment on the ongoing case and prosecution.
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