Former Miami Hurricanes defensive back and wide receiver Rashaun Jones received a mistrial after being accused of murdering teammate Bryan Pata, according to ESPN.
After hours of deliberation, the jury remained deadlocked, leading to the mistrial. One juror — who chose to remain anonymous — told ESPN that only one member of the jury wanted to convict Jones. The rest of the jury believed the state failed to “meet the burden beyond reasonable doubt” in its argument, per the juror who spoke to ESPN.
“The state case was very weak, mostly circumstantial,” the juror said.
With the mistrial, prosecutors are allowed to try the case again with a new jury. That must happen within 90 days of the mistrial.
Advertisement
Jones was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Pata. Jones was accused of shooting and killing Pata outside of his apartment in 2006.
Jones, however, was not arrested until 2021. He’s maintained his innocence and declined a plea deal prior to the case going to trial.
During the trial, prosecutors attempted to paint a picture of a feud between Jones and Pata over a girlfriend. A key piece of evidence in the trial involved former Miami instructor Paul Conner, who claimed he saw a person walking away from Pata’s complex shortly after the shooting. Seven months later, Conner identified Jones in a police lineup.
The defense, however, attempted to poke holes in Conner’s testimony, pointing out that it was dark at the time of the encounter, which lasted just a few seconds. The defense also took issue with Conner’s identification of Jones taking place seven months after the interaction. In addition to that, Conner said he wasn’t sure whether he was wearing his glasses at the time he saw the man at Pata’s complex.
Advertisement
That piece of evidence, combined with uncertainty over the extent of Jones and Mata’s feud and only a few former teammates saying they believed Jones owned a gun, resulted in the mistrial.
Jones and Pata overlapped on Miami’s football team in both the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Pata, a defensive lineman, was killed months ahead of the 2007 NFL Draft, where he was expected to be selected.
Jones has been incarcerated since his 2021 arrest.
