After nearly five years behind bars and a case that stayed cold for almost two decades, former Miami Hurricanes DB Rashaun Jones saw his murder trial end in a mistrial. According to some reports, the jurors spent two days trying to decide if Jones was guilty or not, only to end up deadlocked.

This legal saga surrounding Rashaun Jones has been surrounded by controversy and intrigue. 22-year-old Hurricanes star defensive lineman Bryan Pata was shot in the head on November 7, 2006. The incident happened outside his home at the Colony Apartments in Kendall. No murder weapon was ever recovered. In August 2021, Jones was arrested in Ocala. Personal grudge and rivalry were put up as possible motives when Jones was charged with second-degree murder, almost fifteen years after the crime was committed. Jones and Pata were on the same roster in Miami’s football team during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

After a three-week trial and decades of mystery, the jury was ‘hopelessly split’ on whether he was actually involved in the death of his teammate Bryan Pata back in 2006 outside his southwest Miami-Dade apartment.

They spent eight hours across two days agonizing over the evidence before Judge Cristina Miranda finally called it a mistrial on March 2. One juror even whispered to the media that almost everyone wanted to acquit, with only one person pushing for a conviction, because the state’s case just felt too “weak” and also circumstantial.

The prosecution really tried to lean into this narrative of a “deadly grudge” fueled by jealousy. They told the jury that Jones was spiraling after officials suspended him for a failed drug test the same day Pata got killed.

They also brought up an old rivalry over a girl they both dated and claimed Jones once told Pata to “call your Zoes and clip up,” basically a threat to bring in gang backup. But without a murder weapon, DNA, or even a solid fingerprint, the state was basically asking the jury to connect a bunch of 20-year-old dots that didn’t quite line up.

The biggest “he said, she said” moment came from a former English teacher, Paul Conner. He was the key witness who supposedly saw Jones leaving the scene after the shooting. Seven months later, Conner identified Jones in a police lineup. But his testimony was scrutinized by the defense. They pointed out that it was pitch black outside, and even Conner said he wasn’t sure whether he was wearing his glasses when he saw the man leaving from Pata’s complex.

The fact that the identification occurred seven months afterwards also called into question the credibility of the statements by Conner. Since he’s now dealing with memory issues and couldn’t even show up in person, the jury had to watch a video of him from years ago. The defense basically told the jury that you can’t send a man to prison for life based on a “maybe” from twenty years ago. Especially when the police work back then was not so advanced as it is today.

Then there’s the “bombshell” stuff the jury never even got to hear. Jones’ lawyers found documents about a potential Haitian hitman who allegedly confessed to the murder years ago and even left specific items at Pata’s grave to prove it.

The defense argued that the police totally ignored this lead for 15 years because they were too busy trying to pin it on Jones. The judge ruled that this was all “triple hearsay” and kept it out of the trial. But it definitely added to the feeling that this whole investigation has been a bit of a disaster from the start.

Currently, all sides are just in limbo. Jones, now 40 years old, has already spent nearly five years in jail waiting for this day. And despite being offered a 15-year plea deal that would have let him go home sooner. He turned it down flat. He told the court that “dismissal is the only thing I’m willing to accept” because he claims he’s innocent.

Defense attorney Sara Alvarez said, “Mr. Jones continues to be presumed innocent and we will be back to fight this again in the next trial,” she said, declining further questions from reporters.

But Pata family is still in search of answers and justice for Bryan. “I thought our prosecutors did a wonderful job,” said Edwin Pata, brother of Bryan Pata. “I know there’s some things they did not share, but I am pretty sure they are going to come back a lot harder.”

So, where do we go from here? Even though this trial ended without a verdict, Jones isn’t a free man just yet. He’s heading back to jail while the state decides if they want to try him all over again. There’s another hearing scheduled for this week where the lawyers will argue about a potential retrial date or if there’s any way for Jones to get out on bond while he waits. As of March 3, the state has 90 days to decide.

A question that a lot of folks think about is whether Pata could’ve made it in the NFL if this tragedy had never happened in the first place.

Bryan Pata’s NFL dream

Many of the experts believe Bryan Pata definitely had the talent to make it big in the NFL in 2007.

Before his death in November 2006, Pata was a standout defensive lineman with clear professional prospects. He was projected as a mid-second or maybe early third-round pick for the 2007 NFL Draft. Some even thought he could sneak into the first round if he performed well at the Combine.

He was a 6-foot-4, 280-pound powerhouse who was even on the watch list for the Hendricks Award. An award that goes to the best defensive end in college football. The saddest detail of this whole case is that he was so sure he’d make it that he had already bought the beige suit he planned to wear on draft day. His family actually buried him in that same suit.

He grew up in a Haitian family. In their culture, Haitian children usually put their parents’ interests over theirs. Pata was obsessed with the idea of using his first big NFL check to buy his mother a house. He was literally just months away from becoming a millionaire and changing his family’s life forever.

While it’s impossible to know exactly how his pro career would have gone, Pata had all the measurables that usually leads to a long and successful run in the NFL. Sadly, his death remains one of the biggest ‘what-ifs’ in the history of college football.