Former Miami Hurricanes defensive back and wide receiver Rashaun Jones is facing a mistrial after being charged with murdering teammate Bryan Pata, ESPN reports.
After hours of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked, leading to a mistrial. An unnamed juror told ESPN that only one member of the jury wanted to convict Jones. Other members of the jury believed the state failed to “meet its burden beyond a reasonable doubt” in its argument, according to jurors who spoke to ESPN.
“The state’s case is very weak and mostly circumstantial,” the juror said.
After a mistrial, prosecutors can retry the case with a new jury. This must occur within 90 days of the mistrial.
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Jones was charged with second-degree murder in Pata’s death. Jones is accused of fatally shooting Pata outside his apartment in 2006.
However, Jones was not arrested until 2021. He maintained his innocence and refused a plea deal before the case went to trial.
During the trial, prosecutors sought to paint a picture of a feud between Jones and Pata over his girlfriend. A key piece of evidence in the trial involved former Miami coach Paul Conner, who claimed he saw a man walking away from Pata’s complex shortly after the shooting. Seven months later, Connor recognized Jones in a police lineup.
However, the defense tried to find holes in Connor’s testimony, pointing out that it was dark during the encounter and lasted only a few seconds. The defense also questioned Connor’s identification of Jones seven months after the interaction. Beyond that, Connor said he wasn’t sure if he was wearing glasses when he saw the man in Pata’s building.
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This evidence, combined with uncertainty over the extent of Jones and Mata’s feud and the fact that only a handful of former teammates said they believed Jones owned a gun, led to a mistrial.
Jones and Pata overlapped on the Miami football team during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Pata, a defensive lineman, was killed a few months before the 2007 NFL Draft, when he was expected to be selected.
Jones has been incarcerated since his arrest in 2021.
