MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Rashaun Jones, a former University of Miami Hurricanes player waiting for a retrial in the 2006 murder of UM Canes player Bryan Pata, appeared in Miami-Dade County court on Wednesday morning.
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Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies re-arrested Jones, 40, at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at the Metrowest Detention Center, where he was held without bond for the first-degree murder case, records show.
A Miami-Dade corrections officer reported that he and his K-9 found “a half sheet, and 17 individually torn sheets with suspected K2” on March 27, 2024, at Metrowest, according to a MDSO deputy’s report.
Jones, a jail inmate since Aug. 26, 2021, had the “half sheet of paper” in his shirt sleeve and “the individually torn sheets of paper” in his waistband, according to the MDSO deputy’s arrest report.
On Tuesday, a detective “downloaded the test results” from the MDSO’s crime laboratory analytical section drug unit and found that the papers had tested positive for ADB-BUTINACA, a potent synthetic cannabinoid, according to the deputy’s report.
Jones faced a new third-degree felony charge ofintroducing, possessing, or controlling a controlled substance in a jail or correctional facility, according to county court records.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Cristina Miranda was set to preside over the new case.
RETRIAL DELAYS
Pata, a UM defensive lineman of Haitian descent who was a top NFL draft prospect, was fatally shot on Nov. 7, 2006, in the parking lot outside of his apartment in Kendall, records show. He was 22.
Detective Juan Segovia, a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office veteran, took over the cold case in 2020, and deputies arrested Jones on Aug. 19, 2021 in Lake County.
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Last year, ESPN journalists found Paul Conner — a key eyewitness the prosecution had repeatedly told the court was dead — was alive in Kentucky.
Jones’s trial started on Feb. 17. Segovia was a star witness for the prosecution. Miranda, who has also been presiding over the murder case, declared a mistrial on March 2 after the jury deadlocked.
Segovia took center stage again after the local law enforcement community learned that he was accused of using Instagram to express his opinions anonymously during the trial.
Miranda postponed the retrial after Jones’s defense filed an emergency motion regarding Segovia’s alleged misconduct.
On June 17, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle filed a motion asking the judge for an order to “preserve” e-mails, text messages, or any other electronic messages between Jones’s defense attorneys, Attorney Jeremy McLymont, and “any media outlets,” court records show.
The motion refers to a deposition on May 19 of George Jones, a jailhouse informant, who allegedly said “McLymont facilitated conversations with defense counsel, passed along messages, and arranged an in-person, unrecorded, private meeting on May 5″ at the Turner Guilford Knight Correction Center, records show.
In the motion, the prosecution mentions there could be “violations of privileged communications or dissemination of the personal information of law enforcement officers to the media” and asks the judge for an order “requiring” the defense to “provide” documents for an in-camera review.
A hearing to discuss the motions is at 10:30 a.m. on July 6, according to court records.
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More stories on Jones
- Hearing held for Bryan Pata’s accused killer as lawyers prepare for second trial
- Retrial for UM football player’s accused killer delayed after claims against detective
- Defense in Pata case claims detective violated order by commenting on Local 10 clips about trial
