A Florida judge ruled Friday to limit what attorneys involved in the murder trial of a former University of Miami football player can say to the media or in public but held off on deciding whether to restrict media access to future proceedings.
During a heated exchange with defense attorneys, Florida 11th Circuit Court Judge Cristina Miranda expressed skepticism that the retrial would start as scheduled Sept. 14. She said she did not think that was "a realistic date for a trial," considering multiple pending issues, including allegations of witness tampering and inappropriate conduct. But she did not set a new trial date.
In March, a jury deadlocked over whether defendant Rashaun Jones was guilty of murdering teammate Bryan Pata nearly 20 years ago and Miranda declared a mistrial.
Pata was shot in the head outside his apartment complex on Nov. 7, 2006, shortly after football practice. The case went unsolved for more than a decade before ESPN's reporting raised new questions about the killing and ensuing police investigation. An ESPN story in 2020 revealed that police had suspected Jones since shortly after Pata's death. Police arrested and charged Jones in August 2021, and he has remained in custody since.
Miranda's order noted the "extensive media coverage" in traditional media and on social media and wrote that "some of it is misleading and inflammatory." Her gag order puts strict limitations on what attorneys can say publicly before the trial, including any comment on evidence that the judge has ruled inadmissible. It also prohibits all comment to the media or public during trial.
Miranda said she was unable to rule on certain motions Friday due to a pending investigation into issues surrounding interactions between jailhouse informant George Jones (no relation to Rashaun Jones) and defense attorneys. Prosecutors have informed the court of the investigation but have said they are not able to provide any specifics on who is conducting the investigation or who is being investigated.
George Jones gave a statement in 2022 that Rashaun Jones, his cellmate at the time, confessed to having murdered Pata. He did not testify in the first trial but has since been named as a state witness.
George Jones, while in custody in a federal prison in Memphis, told law enforcement officials in July that a defense attorney tried to pay him $15,000 not to testify in the murder trial. That attorney does not represent Rashaun Jones but has been in communication with defense counsel in the case, according to documents filed in the case. Weeks later, Spencer Bradley, a prior cellmate of George Jones, gave a statement to a defense investigator saying George Jones told him that he had lied about the bribery allegation and about the alleged confession.
"Mr. Bradley stated that [George Jones] discussed the subject with him on approximately three occasions and expressed remorse for lying about a young Black man," according to a discovery exhibit filed by defense attorneys Aug. 17.
Prosecutors and the judge questioned whether proper procedures were followed in how Bradley's conversation was recorded.
ESPN has been unable to reach George Jones since Bradley's statement became public, and he is now listed as being held in a federal prison in Oklahoma City. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.