Jurors deadlock, judge declares mistrial in Miami football murder case - ESPN

MIAMI — A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the murder trial of former Miami Hurricanes player Rashaun Jones, accused of shooting of his teammate Bryan Pata in 2006.

About an hour after the six jurors began their second day of deliberations, Florida 11th Circuit Court Judge Cristina Miranda came into the courtroom to address the attorneys, reading a statement from the jurors: «At this point we are deadlocked with no one willing to move.» Miranda instructed them to keep trying, but after about another hour, they again said they could not render a verdict.

Under Florida law, a mistrial means that prosecutors can try the case with a new jury, and a new trial must come within 90 days.

The deadlock came after five days of testimony in which nearly two dozen former teammates, coaches, law enforcement officers and others told jurors about prior fights between the two, tensions over a girlfriend, and Jones having a gun — a .38-caliber revolver — which a firearms expert said could have been used in the shooting.

ESPN's new, seven-part podcast on the slaying of Bryan Pata and the two-decade odyssey to find his killer, is available now. Listen here.

Nearly all evidence against Jones, 40, was circumstantial amid a flurry of police missteps that came to light over the years, and Jones was not charged in the case until nearly 15 years after the killing. He had maintained his innocence and declined plea offers just before trial that would have limited his prison time instead of risking up to life in prison.

Prosecutors relied heavily on recorded testimony from former University of Miami instructor Paul Conner, who told police he encountered someone walking away from the apartment complex where Pata was killed shortly after the