MIAMI (WSVN) – After another delay, a trial 20 years in the making has finally begun.
Opening statements were finally made Wednesday in the murder trial of former Miami Hurricanes football player Rashaun Jones, who’s accused of killing teammate Bryan Pata, after the trial was delayed.
“The confidential informant said he was playing dominoes with an individual a few weeks after Bryan Pata was murdered, and that individual confessed to killing someone,” said defense attorney Christian Maroni.
Tuesday’s delay came after the defense argued new information about a Homeland Security confidential informant who made statements regarding the murder that could possibly sway the case.
However, the state said the timeline doesn’t add up.
“That statement was made. The CI contacted his handler, his special agent, in July of 2009 about a recent homicide,” said a prosecutor.
The case stems from the death of then-22-year-old Pata, a defensive lineman and a projected top NFL draft pick at the time. Jones is accused of shooting him in the back of the head outside his Kendall apartment after a team practice in November 2006.
Since then, Pata’s family has been on a decades-long quest for justice.
The case went cold for several years, until 2021, when new evidence surfaced, and a key witness who was believed to be dead turned up alive.
That discovery led to Jones’ arrest, but the defense has since accused the state of misrepresenting evidence, claiming that documents are missing and that the case has a string of holes.
“I don’t want to have openings until we have answers,” said Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cristina Miranda.
The judge allowed this time to flush out the facts, but now the jury is seated, and the trial is underway.
Jones has maintained his innocence, refusing a plea deal earlier in the case, telling a judge again that he is innocent.
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