Misconduct allegations delay retrial in Miami murder case

A judge delayed the former’s retrial on Thursday University of Miami The football player is accused of killing a teammate in 2006, amid an internal police investigation into the lead detective, a misconduct complaint against the former chief prosecutor and the reinstatement of a controversial jailhouse informant.

Rashaun Jones’ attorneys filed a motion Thursday morning to dismiss the case because of additional records and requests for permission to use them in cross-examination during the trial, among other filings.

In a hearing Thursday, Florida’s 11th Circuit Court Judge Christina Miranda advised attorneys to meet her April 27 deadline and said she would not have time to rule on the motions before the May 18 trial. The attorneys argued they could not file by the deadline because the events triggering their motion occurred within the past week. After repeated heated arguments, Miranda rescheduled the trial for September 14.

“I don’t see what makes this case any different than every case heard here today,” Miranda told defense attorneys. “I don’t have a day between now and then to do all the things you want me to do on my calendar.”

Jones, 40, has been in jail for nearly five years since being arrested for murdering Brian Pata. A trial earlier this year ended in a hung jury, prompting the judge Declaring a mistrial.

Jones’ attorney Sara Alvarez told ESPN that her client chose to remain in custody longer so they could follow new developments in the case.

He said, Rashaun has been given an ultimatum today. “Rashawn made a very difficult but wise decision, and chose to preserve his rights — even if it meant staying in custody until he could have his day in court again.”

Pata’s brother Edwin Pata expressed disappointment at the delay.

“This defense team is unprofessional and lacks respect for the court,” he told ESPN. “We remain optimistic about the case — everything else we can’t control.”

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office confirmed to ESPN on Thursday that Juan Segovia, the lead detective who took over the warrant case in 2020, is the subject of an internal affairs investigation. The spokesman declined to comment further, citing pending litigation.

Segovia allegedly used an anonymous Instagram account, @balanceof_justice, to post disparaging statements toward Jones and a witness during the February trial where Segovia testified, according to an emergency motion filed by Alvarez on April 30 to order the account preserved.

In response to a post about Jones’ ex-girlfriend’s testimony, the account posted local media reports about the trial, including “Guilty,” “I’ve seen too many trials, he’s guilty of a sin” and “He’s lying.” Another comment read, “RIP Brian, thank you MDPD for a job well done.”

Alvarez wrote in the motion that such statements “go directly to his prejudice … and his credibility as the lead detective and the State’s key investigative witness.”

The account commented on a post from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office in September about Segovia’s naming to the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees: “Wow, the Miami Dade Sheriff’s Office is impressive.”

The motion says the account is linked to an email, phone number and IP address associated with Segovia. Several accounts linked to Miami-area law enforcement and the judiciary — including Segovia’s wife, Florida 11th Circuit Court Judge Christine Hernandez — and followed.

ESPN was able to establish a connection between the account and a phone number and email associated with the detective.

Segovia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

Alvarez filed a motion this week seeking more discovery about jailhouse informant George Jones (no relation to Rashaan Jones). Last week, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office added Jones to its witness list despite agreeing to remove him last summer after he sent an email threatening to “tank” the state’s case.

Jones, who is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and identity theft, gave Segovia a statement in April 2022 that during a conversation in November 2021 while both were being held at the Miami-Dade Metro West Detention Center, Rashon Jones admitted to killing Pata.

In July 2025, when attorneys for both sides discussed whether to make Jones a witness, Assistant State’s Attorney Christina Diamond said Jones sent her a “threatening email” and she agreed to strike him from the witness list.

After the first trial ended in March, George Jones reached out to Edwin Pata via social media, suggesting he could help with their case. But in a series of messages and phone calls with ESPN in recent weeks, Jones said he learned no one from the state attorney’s office would be able to reduce his federal sentence. He said he was “stressed and upset” and would refuse to testify. He said that testifying would put him in danger of prison and that he would not survive the stand.

“They’re going to crucify me because I’m George Jones,” he said during a phone call last week, referring to his criminal history.

It is unclear whether any agreement was reached that led to Jones’ reintroduction to the witness list. ESPN has filed public records requests with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice regarding communications about Jones’ participation in the upcoming trial and his sentencing, and has not yet received responsive records.

ESPN could not reach Jones since he was transferred from a federal prison in Memphis to Miami on Friday, and his attorney did not have further information.

When George Jones made his statement to Segovia, the assistant state attorney handling the case was veteran prosecutor Michael Von Zamft. Von Zamft signed running back Rashaan Jones in August 2021 but was replaced by Diamond in 2024.

On March 27, the Florida Bar Association filed a complaint with the Florida Supreme Court alleging that Von Zamft engaged in “serious professional misconduct” in a 2004 trial of a man convicted of four counts of first-degree murder.

The allegations relate to tampering with witness testimony, giving witnesses favors such as food, tobacco and personal visits in exchange for testimony, and not disclosing information to the defense, among other things.

Von Zamft did not respond to a request from ESPN for comment, but in a response filed Wednesday to the Florida Bar Association’s complaint, he either denied the allegations or noted that his actions were not misconduct and said “none of the alleged acts or omissions was the product of inadvertence, clerical, administrative, error, or otherwise willful misconduct.”

Alvarez asked the judge to compel the state attorney’s office to provide George Jones with all records, including his communications with Von Zamft.

“The entirety of his cooperation history in this case was conducted by an ASA who has now been formally charged by the Florida Bar with the identical misconduct alleged here: undisclosed coordination of cooperating witnesses and failure to disclose cooperation benefits,” Alvarez wrote in his motion.

While urging the court to dismiss the case, he also noted the cumulative effect of the 15-year delay, noting that it had “deteriorated the death or unavailability of eight material witnesses and the independent recollection of every surviving investigative witness.”

A hearing by defense attorneys and a request to lower Jones’ bond, currently $500,000, will be heard on May 18, Miranda said.

ESPN’s Dan Arruda and Scott Frankel contributed to this report.