Jury Convicts Coral Gables High Stabber Of 2nd Degree Murder
MIAMI (CBS4) – After about three and a half hours of deliberation, jurors in the murder trial of former Coral Gables High School student Andy Rodriguez found him guilty of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of classmate Juan Carlos Rivera.
The jury found Rodriguez, 19, stabbed Rivera, 17, with a box cutter. The fight spilled into a school courtyard, where Rivera collapsed and died.
The jury was given the option of finding Rodriguez guilty of second degree murder, or manslaughter; or they could vote for his acquittal. Judge Dava Tunis told jurors that in order for them to find Rodriguez guilty of murder; they must find that he acted with "ill-will, hatred, spite, or evil intent."
"It was a hard decision to make. You have two mothers in pain, two young men and nobody is a winner," said juror Reva Homnick. "We all looked at the evidence and we came to the same conclusion. We all came together as a cohesive group, and we hugged at the end and felt we did the right thing."
In the end, the jury chose second-degree murder as the crime Rodriguez committed.
"He was devastated," said defense attorney Alexander Michaels. "He's devastated just as I am."
Michaels said he will appeal.
"No one wins. Juan Rivera lost his life and Andy Rodriguez's life has changed forever." said assistant state attorney Marie Mato. "They are never going to be the same. They are never going to be whole."
Rodriguez's defense claimed self-defense in the stabbing death of Rivera. Prosecutors countered that Rodriguez killed Rivera in a jealous rage after his ex-girlfriend, Daimilsis Salgado, befriended him.
"It boils down to this, 'Did he act out of fear or did he act out of anger? That is the question for you," said assistant state attorney Mato in her closing argument Monday morning.
At one point, Mato pulled out Rivera's bloodied shirt from an evidence bag and said, "That's what the defendant did to the victim out of anger and not out of fear, out of anger."
Rivera's mother wept as she saw her son's bloodied shirt.
Defense attorney Lane Abraham addressed the jury by mid-afternoon and said Rodriguez acted out of self-defense.
"Not every homicide is a criminal act. If it's justifiable, it's not a criminal act," Abraham said. "In this case, it's self-defense."
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle issued a statement after the verdict was reached.
"Andy Rodriguez' guilty verdict cannot restore life to Juan Carlos Rivera," the statement read. " I feel this verdict will help bring a sense of closure to a family victimized by a teenager's sense of jealousy."
Fernandez Rundle also praised those involved in prosecuting Rodriguez.
"The jury heard the evidence and quickly determined the truth. Assistant State Attorneys Marie Mato and Jean-Michel D'Escoubet did a magnificent job keeping everyone focused on the facts and letting those facts speak for themselves," she said.
"My thoughts are with Juan Carlos' family during this difficult time," Fernandez Rundle added.
Rodriguez faces up to life in prison for his second-degree murder conviction. His sentencing has been scheduled for October 4.
