Gut Feeling

"If you're asking me to play blank, do I think that he did it to the answers now?"

“"I'll tell you I had nothing to do with him, don't know."”

Just days before the trial of the state of Florida vs. Roshan Jones was set to start, the judge held a hearing in her courtroom. Roshan Jones was there, with his attorneys, and so was the prosecution. "If I had a crystal ball, I'd be able to tell you which way this case was going to go, but I don't." "I often believe cases are going to go one way out and go the other and vice versa."

Judge Kristina Miranda, the woman who'd preside over this trial, had something important that she wanted to tell Roshan. "There was a lot of information that had come in as tips, as potential ideas of other people that might have prevented this offense, and most of it is being excluded." Judge Miranda had ruled that the bulk of the alternate theories about who might have killed Brian Padak would not be admissible in court. She decided they were either hearsay or irrelevant. So, the night killed fight with gang members, Jita Brody's twin brother, word of an alleged hit on Brian, all in-in-missable.

"What this meant is that the defense attorneys who were trying to prove that Roshan didn't kill Brian couldn't bring up any of these theories as they fought this case, and the jury would never learn any of this." Instead, the only version of the story the jury would hear was the one where Roshan allegedly killed Brian. Then, Judge Miranda addressed Roshan directly, she reminded him of the potential sentence he could be facing if he was convicted.

“"Judged Miranda had just told Roshan the only way he'd get out of prison would be in a coffin. It seemed like she was encouraging him to consider a plea deal."”

The state had offered Roshan 15 years, with credit for the five years he'd already spent in jail.

That sentence would be lower than the one he'd face if he was convicted of second-degree murder at trial.

"I would rather you find some sort of fairness, and the victims find some sort of fairness and justice in this case, without having to rule the face of a trial. Have you had time to think about that? Or do you want time to think about that?" "I had time to think about it, you know." "Okay, and what is your position? What do you think of it?" "You've got no heart, I don't get it. So that means I gotta go and try to prove my innocence."

Roshan insisted he was innocent, and that he wouldn't accept the plea offer.

“"Well that's a deal. I'll do what I'm gonna do."”

Then, the judge decided to do something that we all found interesting. She started to bargain. It's something she said she does with all her defendants. "Is there something that you thought of that name? Do you want to do it with me?" "This bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom. Rotary respect to anyone that's involved." "Just listen, we'll be on the day I'm doing this."

"Yeah, there's nothing to do that. I thought you were seeing orange and fire, so something along with fire. Roshan held firm. He didn't want to take a plea deal. He said he would rather go to trial and stand before a jury." "The Patta family also wanted their day in court. In the lead up to the trial, producer Dan Aruna went to Edwin Patta's house outside Miami. "You don't believe how you go great to see you."

Brian's siblings and their mom Jeanette were gathering for a family dinner at Edwin's house. Inside, Dan spoke to Brian's brother Fedonol. "How are you feeling about this trial coming up?"

"Yeah, to be honest with you, I'm glad it's finally here. I just want closer from my mom.

You know, I'm not, you know, she's up and down." By now, Jeanette was 74 years old. Her medical issues had made talking difficult, so her daughter run that spoke for her. "You know, she's been waiting for this for a long time." And just the other day, she stopped for a moment and she put a head down and she just, the tears started to flow. And she said, "Do you think we're going to win?"

"We spoke earlier about this being a very circumstantial case. There was a chance that a jury listens to all those evidence and can't get to a guilty verdict. Is that the possibility that you guys are considered?" "I've thought of it. I don't like to think of it."

At the end of the day, I just always think about my mom, you know,

she's the one that's stuck with a broken heart, along with her children. Like, I think about her, like, having to hear of the outcome of what she didn't expect. You know, how much more damage really due to her.

“"That's what I think of it. That's what hurts me the most."”

Here, Genet, spoke up. "I have to then get it. This is all for a while." "Yes, she won't stress this for a while." Nearly two decades after Brian's murder, Rochon Jones would face a jury of six people. The question for us would police and prosecutors be able to paper over 20 years of mistakes,

action, and scandal, and get it conviction? Orboard Rochon's defense attorneys create enough reasonable doubt to convince a jury to let him free. "I'm Paul Bolivine." From 3430 podcasts, this is murder at the U. Episode 7, "Got Feeling."

There were moments working on this story where we questioned if we would ever make it to the day when someone would stand trial for the murder of Brian Pada.

But in February, 2026, that day finally came.

A mix of family members, former teammates, press, and law students descended upon the courthouse in downtown Miami. After four days of jury selection, testimony was set to begin. The tension among the defense, the prosecution, and even the judge was impossible to ignore.

“It was no secret that the lawyers on the two sides didn't like each other. But even aside from that,”

they all seemed on edge. Inside the courtroom, the Pada family filled up the first two rows of seats. They set right behind the prosecution. Later in the trial, Rochon's mom would also make an appearance, sitting behind the defense. Day and the night attended every day of the trial. We'd listen to the day's events,

crowded in with other reporters, and then we debrief each night. And I am rolling. Okay.

On that first day of scheduled testimony, Dan and I expected opening statements.

But what we got was entirely different. It is February 15th. Day one. Wait, no sign. It's not February 15th. That's a good start. It's February 17th. It was supposed to be day one of Rochon's trial today.

“That didn't really happen. What happened this morning, Paula?”

Oh my god. The defense wanted to talk about some evidence. And I thought at first, it was going to be something easily dispensed with. And then when they brought up the ice agent, we knew that this was not going to be resolved quickly. All right. Anything else you all want me to address? Yes, Judge. There's one additional issue. So this goes to the court's ruling, excluding the confession of willneria sentty. Willneria sentty is a known hitman.

And he confessed to the crime. The court excluded any reference to that cross examination on that. Anything related to that. Right off the bat. Even before the jury was brought in, the defense had come in hot with some new evidence. It was more detail about another theory of who killed Brian Patta, a theory that could help the defense challenge the prosecutions version of events. It turns out an alleged hitman from Haiti named Willneria sent had apparently confessed

to Brian's murder just weeks after the shooting. And informant relayed the confession to an immigration and customs enforcement agent. The Ice agent in his report says that this person is wanted for illegal entry and murder. He says he's wanted for murder.

But records we found during our reporting showed that the only thing you sent had confessed to

“was recently shooting someone with a 38 caliber gun. A gun of the same type that police believe”

could have been used in Brian's murder. The alleged confession was so vague we didn't include it in the series. Especially because when we asked the police about you sent, they said he'd likely died in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. But now this alleged suspect was back. And as it would turn out, the tip Ice had received about him was more credible than we thought. So now we have a specific statement linking that confession to the murder of Brian Patta.

But the confession was I just killed that kid from the University of Miami. I get paid to perform

hits. According to these reports, the hitman was involved in a gang that originated in Miami-Dade

County based on sort of context clues and additional research we've done. It was a Haitian gang that originated in Miami-Dade County in the little Haiti area. And going back to the fight that happened that club life, those were also individuals who were affiliated with a Haitian gang in the little Haiti area. And we found out that it was so specific that Willnery's synth allegedly told this confidential informant that he killed Brian Patta. By name. This tip was clearly real. It clearly needed to be

investigated. And it was not by MDPD. Not only was the tip credible, Ice had information that a synth might be living in Georgia in 2011, which contradicted but the police had told us that he'd likely died a year earlier. Ice was trying was actively reaching out to the Miami-Dade Police Department saying, "Hey, this guy, we have information that he is in Marietta, Georgia." And he wasn't able to get in touch with anybody and then was bounced back between different

police departments. They were given him the run around like he said. And there was no follow-up by the Miami-Dade Police Department or any Florida law enforcement agency as far as we're aware. It is just shocking that they did not take this tip after a federal agent who had been working in the field said multiple times, "This comes from a reliable source." This is someone who had been a law enforcement officer who had been working confidential informants who knew the Haitian

“community and all of that coming forward and saying, "I think this has merit and making an effort”

to do it." And you don't take that and run with it. It's like a blurp in the police report. And it is the last entry that they have. Like not like we needed any more signs that the police dropped the ball on this, but today was just epic in terms of how poorly a job they did investigating this. So that's something that should have been followed up on. We want to be able to show leads that we're not sufficiently investigated, sufficiently followed up on. And this is a lead that

ties back to a number of other pieces of evidence that the officer's had in this case.

Ultimately, even with all of this, Judge Miranda ruled the ice tip in admissible. She

called it double hearsay. Yes, since alleged confession had been made to an unidentified confidential informant who then told the confession to an ice agent. In the end, Judge Miranda would consider admitting this as possible evidence, only if the defense had the alleged hitman himself, which they didn't. Yes, since whereabouts were unknown. And so, yet another theory that could help a quit Rashad wouldn't get in front of the jury. One day later, the testimony officially began.

Okay, it is Wednesday, February 18th. Over the next several days, we heard hours of testimony. It is the one-two-third day of state's testimony from many of the people we interviewed while reporting the story. He was like, "Boy, you might as well go ahead and clip up."

“Will he told me that he couldn't get in touch with Rashad? On the scared he was dead?”

I'd hop out of the car and I was like, "You're a stop plan." The state tried to establish that Rashad had a gun, but calling two former teammates, Dave Howell and Karim Brown. Dan had talked to them both back in 2018, but neither had told us anything about Rashad having a gun. They shared something different at trial. And can you tell the jury what the gun looked like?

It was a black gun. It was a revolver. A smaller caliber. It was a snub barrel. Not only did Dave say he had seen Rashad's gun, but he'd said it was a revolver. The type of gun police believe had killed Brian. And when Karim Brown, the other team

having a 38. He said, "Big bro, you know I got a 38. You know I keep that 38. I mean I kind of just looked at him like, where is this coming from? We just continue walking." What did you understand

“him to mean by that? 30, I mean in the fireman. And I think what the defense was trying to”

argue because Rashad's number was 38. So I think the defense was trying to insinuate that by saying,

I always got that 38 on me that he was referring to his playing number. The defense also pushed back

by pointing out that Dave Howell and Karim Brown are now police officers and friends of the Patta family. The only two witnesses in this case who say anything about Rashad with a gun, which is directly contradicted by the other witnesses, both police officers now. They didn't say explicitly what they meant by that, but we took it to mean that the two men would want to present a story that helped the prosecution.

For the Patta family, the trial was extremely emotional and some of it was hard for them to watch. When the state showed the jury crime scene photos, Bryant's siblings didn't want their mom to see them. As they pushed her wheelchair into the hallway, we could hear her saying she wanted to stay. At another point, after the prosecution played the audio from the 911 calls, Jeanette called out Rashad's name. Bryant's sister Rennette covered her mother's mouth

and the siblings escorted her out of the courtroom.

Ultimately, the prosecution's case rested heavily on one man, the eyewitness Paul Connor.

The former university of Miami writing instructor said he'd seen a man he later identified as Rashad, leaving the colony apartments the night Bryant was killed. Because Connor currently has memory problems, prosecutors played a video of when he testified in that bond hearing in 2022. We did expect to hear some of Connor's recorded testimony, but there was one detail we didn't think the prosecution would bring up.

Interesting thing is, as they were talking about what did you do next, he talks about sitting with a forensic artist. This is where I was surprised because I did not

think that the sketch that was generated from Paul Connor's description was going to make it into

“the trial, but it did. Well, I think if the state hadn't put it in, the defense would have.”

Yeah, because when we've all seen the sketch and looking at photos from Rashad, then it's not like a dead ringer. No, not a dead ringer by any means. And right at that point, like it seemed like Rashad's attorney stood and nudged him and made him look straight at the jury. Right. Because yes, it's been 20 years, but like it's, I think it'd be hard for them to even envision that guy in front of them ever looking like that sketch. The sketch also highlighted

another issue that didn't come up during that initial hearing where Paul Connor had testified. Connor was a white witness, ideaing a black defendant. In the legal world, this is called Cross-Racial ID. There's considerable evidence that Cross-Racial Identification is unreliable. People tend to have own race bias, which means they're better remembering faces within their same race, and that bias can lead to eyewitness misidentifications or worse a wrongful conviction.

And so, when you look back at that sketch, the sketch that's supposed to be Rashad, but doesn't really look like him, it's hard not to think about context. But sketches also often aren't great, a mix of bad memory and the skill of the artist. In this case, the police had a stronger ID, much stronger. Paul Connor had picked Rashad's photo out of a line up. I do think with the jury, the fact that, yes, the sketch is whatever it is.

The fact that he picks him out of a line up, that is the thing to overcome. That is the one. Right, as the one. And so, there's a lot of ways you can chip away at that, but that still is the most

“powerful thing. The jury has heard this entire time. I think it's really the only real evidence.”

The only direct evidence, right? Everything goes on still circumstance. This is the only direct evidence that they've got and that they're going to have. One piece of evidence that didn't come up at the trial was the heated phone call that teammate Chris Zellner said he overheard in the locker room. The one where Brian told someone to come see me

for one of Brian's cell phones. So, we may never know if that call really happened or who Brian was

“talking to. What we do know from Ashahn's call logs is that there is no record of him calling”

Brian that afternoon. On the last day of testimony, the state called an expert in cell phone forensics to analyze the location data from Ashahn's cell phone. But the cell tower evidence was inconclusive. Since Ashahn and Brian lived so close together, the cell data couldn't place for Sean at the scene of the crime. And so, later that day, the state rested its case. All right, ladies and gentlemen, the state has rested in our case. I'm going to turn to the

defense and ask them if they'd like to call it for us with us. And here's where something happened that none of us are coming. The defense, who could have called former detective Miguel Dominguez to the stand, or Jada Brody, Brian's girlfriend, or so many other people, chose to call no one. Okay, I almost didn't even hear it. But as soon as the state rested, they said the defense rest.

“And I think I'm going to say it was like, "Would you like to hear that right?"”

Shocking. Absolutely, Shocking. Yeah. In a criminal trial, the burden of proof is on the prosecution. In the best case scenario, this was the defense's way of taking a knee, betting they already had the jury on their side. And so, both sides moved toward closing arguments.

The state went first. Brian Padah was a senior at the University of Miami. He had everything

going for him. He was about to hit an old draft. The season was coming to a close. He switched positions. His draft stock was rising. One of the top agents had just called him. Everything was going Brian Padah's way. On November 7th of 2006, that dream ended, use of the jealousy of this man over here, the defendant, Roshan Jones. And then it was the defense's turn. Roshan's attorney Christian Moroni addressed the jury. Two things can be true at once. The death of Brian Padah was an absolute tragedy.

Roshan Jones is not responsible. With his last words to the jury, Moroni focused his energy on dismantling what Paul Connor thought he saw. Paul Connor said that he is near-sighted and he's foresighted. He has to wear glasses for a distance and he has to wear reading glasses up close. And not only were the conditions for. But the time between whenever he saw this person and the actual being shown the lineup was seven and a half months, seven and a half months.

Members of the jury. If you saw a person for one to two seconds at night and you were asked to accurately pick them, pick a photograph of them, seven and a half months later. Would you be able to do it? Another factor that you're going to be instructed to consider is whether the identification, the selection was cross-racial, whether the person selected and the witness are a different races. Why? Because it's difficult to identify someone of a

different race. Paul Connor is a white man from Kentucky who's been in Miami for three years

“and Rochon Jones is a black man. And then Rochon's attorney did something we'd all remember later.”

He took that sketch. The one in artist had made based on Connor's description of who he'd seen the night of Brian's murder and held it in front of the jury. Does this look anything like Rochon Jones? Does this look anything like Rochon Jones? Nothing. There was no direct competition between Brian and Rochon Jones. Not the type of competition that can drive someone to commit a homicide. Let's break this down. The government's theory of prosecution in this case is that Rochon Jones failed

his second drug test. Not his first drug test where this is the first time that this has happened and this

is a new thing that he's dealing with. Not his third drug test where he's now going to get kicked off the team. He failed his second drug test and he has such a break. He goes, he's so upset that he failed his second drug test that he shoots his teammate in the head. Does that make any sense members of the jury? Does that make any sense at all? There is a window between closing arguments

It's a chance for the defense to lay the groundwork for a future fight in case Rochon was

“convicted and they wanted to appeal. And so Rochon's team brought up another one of the many”

Joneses in this case, a manual Jones. The guy from way back when who allegedly confessed to killing Brian, "I was nowhere, I don't know anything about no murder." But Judge Miranda warned the defense that if a manual Jones made it in, so would evidence given by another Jones. George Jones. He's like, "I want to talk to do, we got an argument and the next thing I know, he's on the ground." One alleged jailhouse confession by a manual Jones pointed away from Rochon,

though it would be good for the defense. But George Jones testimony pointed to Rochon,

which would be better for the state. At this, one of Rochon's attorneys fired back.

“He's a lot of institutions involved with that jailhouse in that jailhouse.”

Information that was fair to him, "Buy detectives to go me up." And we, yes, where are you going to be from? Rochon's attorney had just accused the Miami-Dade police of essentially manufacturing Rochon's alleged confession to George Jones. Assistant state attorney Christina Diamond was a guest.

For a moment, Dan and I felt like we were back in middle school. Or in the audience,

at the Jerry Springer Show. Of course, none of those six jurors, the ones waiting in the deliberation room, who would determine the outcome of this trial, had watched this unfold. They were already tucked away, poised to begin their part in all of this. Because this trial wouldn't be over until there was a verdict. A verdict that would rely on those six people unanimously agreeing on whether or not Rochon Jones killed Brian Pada. What could

go wrong? She was not in a place where it was going to happen. She wasn't engaged. At that point, she stopped engaging with us all together. Coming up, we go inside the jury room. But what I want to say is that you don't want to be a student, the master of the club's software, the internet, so master is really great. You can say that you can be a hero. You're a master of the club, right? But you don't believe it.

That's right. It's just a challenge. Make the whole thing like this. And if you then work, you'll be able to do it. - That's right. - Save. Like this. Hold it. Don't get to look. - Yes, Custon. Those else will be in. So it's 637. My understanding is that the jurors have decided that they want to come back on Monday. So I'm going to bring them out. - Judge Miranda gave the jury one day off. It was

a Friday. For Dan and me, it was a very long weekend of waiting. I couldn't help but have a massive pit. My stomach over the weekend. Just playing out what could happen. What is probably going to happen? We're going to see a lot of pain in that courthouse. That's stayed with me because

“it's something that we always knew might happen. But I think I think once the trial started”

I thought, no, no, it'll be fine. The family will probably get some sense of justice. But I'm not sure that's going to happen now. - Okay. I'm recording. It is Monday, March 2nd. It feels like 265. What happened today, Paula? - The news that came out was not good for anyone. - All right, thank you, maybe seated. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I've received your note indicating that you continue to be a deadlock. And so at this time I will declare a

"Mrs. Trial in the Home of Juries." Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to thank you for your time and after two decades of waiting for a trial, five days of testimony from more than 20 witnesses and seven hours of deliberations, it had all ended with a hung jury.

square one. No resolution for the paddocks, no answer for Roshan Jones, just the possibility of

another trial. In the meantime, Roshan would be going back to jail. Dan and I looked around the courtroom. We saw a genetic paddock looking down with her head resting on her hand crying. Her daughter Renette tried to comfort her. Well, the family immediately exited the courtroom. The defense stayed put. Tell me about the defense team, how they were feeling and what they did after it, the hung jury was read. They were, they just, they looked

shell-shocked, really. A lot of animated talking between Roshan and some of the attorneys at one point, they were all holding hands in a circle. It appeared as if they were in some sort of like reflection or prayer or something like that. It was a very solemn moment and then there was a moment

“when, and I think this is probably the hardest moment for for that team was when the corrections”

officer took Roshan back and it was taking him back into the jail. I had questions. Why did the jury give up after only seven hours of deliberation? What pieces of evidence were the most compelling and why hadn't the jury been able to come to a unanimous decision one way or the other? We immediately began reaching out to the jurors by text, email, even LinkedIn messages. We wanted to find out what had happened inside that deliberation room

and eventually I got in touch with a few members of the jury. One juror told me that the jury wasn't even least split, in fact, just the opposite. They had voted five to one against convicting Roshan. We just think the state hadn't proved their case. I later interviewed this juror on the phone. The juror wanted to remain anonymous so this is the voice of an actor. In order for us to get there we had to make a lot of assumptions. We didn't feel like we should be making those assumptions

that the state needed to prove their case. There were so many gaps in the evidence that we needed.

“So I asked, what were the pieces of evidence that would have needed to hear?”

For some of us, the Jada thing was a gap. If this gentleman injected himself in the relationship, they could call Jada and help us understand what that was and the conflict between her boyfriend and his gentleman. For me, I needed to hear from Jada. I asked the juror about Paul Connor, the university Miami instructor who identified Roshan out of a lineup. All of us believe Paul Connor. We don't believe he lied about what he heard or what he saw or that he thought he saw this

person. The challenge that we had was that he looked at the football pictures. He attended the games. He ate in the cafeteria. We could not ignore the possibility that he saw him on campus. None of us understood why they waited seven and a half months to do the lineup. That didn't make sense. He's not going to remember in what setting he saw him. The prosecution's theory of the case was

“that after failing his second drug test, Roshan decided to take out his anger and jealousy on Brian”

by killing him. For this juror, that story just didn't make sense. I just don't buy the

mental break either. This wasn't the first suspension and this wasn't the last. I couldn't connect

the dots. Maybe I don't understand the human mind and why people do evil things. It was hard to comprehend how someone could wake up someday, have some news that was of their own making and decide to kill someone else. The jury hadn't been allowed to hear about all the short comings and mistakes of the Miami-Dade Police that we've detailed in this series. But even still, this juror said they were unanimous on one point. We all did feel the Miami-Dade Police Department

did a horrible job with this case. Ultimately, the juror felt like the Miami-Dade Police had failed Brian's family. I feel bad for this man's family. They've been waiting on justice for so long and he present a case that is all circumstantial. I just expected to see more. When the jurors returned on Monday to continue deliberating, they talked through all the evidence of the trial, and they ended up 5-1 with one juror wanting to convict. This juror was concerned about him not

going to the meeting and she just couldn't get past the fight over Jada. She really felt that was significant. Once that occurs, she felt like he didn't get over that and he held that

grudge for a long time. When he got the news, he failed his second drug test,

she felt that he snapped. That one juror held firm. And nothing, the other jurors could say, would change that juror's opinion. She was not in a place where it was going to happen. She wasn't engaged. At that point, she stopped engaging with us altogether. Sounds like a shun came very, very close to walking out those courtroom steps that I

to get in touch with the one holdout juror and never heard back. But here's what another juror told

me over text. What is frustrating is that the only juror who didn't want to change her mind. Her reason was, quote, "got feeling?" My heart is telling me he's guilty. The second time we went back to the juror room with instructions from the judge, she just kept reading her book and said, "I'm not going to repeat myself." So we all decided to tell the judge we were done.

Now, jurors are supposed to reach a verdict based on evidence, not on their feelings. In fact,

“that's what judge Miranda explicitly told the jurors before they began the deliberations.”

This case must be decided only upon the evidence that you have heard from the testimony of the witnesses and have seen in the form of exhibits in evidence and these instructions. This case must not be decided for against anyone because you feel sorry for anyone or are angry at anyone. For Rochon's lead attorney Sarah Alvarez, the news about the jury cut both ways.

They had come so close to an acquittal, but they had failed to convince one juror. That left the defense team trying to figure out what they would do differently in a retrial. I spoke to Alvarez outside the courtroom. There's no perfect way or no one way to try a case, especially given the way that this played out. I'm glad that we didn't have to leave all witnesses because if the juror was holding out because of a gut feeling, I don't know how much that would have

done. So we'll have to wait and see how it goes for the second trial. I don't want to

make too much strategy out there. We reached out to the state attorney's office several times after the trial. No one there would talk to us and they didn't release a statement to the press. What the state does with this is I think even more interesting now knowing that it was so close for a not guilty verdict. A lot of people have asked if they decided to move forward. I don't know.

What do you think? I think they almost have to. After the conversation they've had with the family. But they really do need to think as this really worth it. I was able to speak to Edwin and Edric afterwards. And I think their reactions were sort of tempered because they probably knew this was coming early in the day. But outside they were buoyed. They were not

ready to give up the fight. Clearly not the verdict you guys are working for. So what do you do now? What's you go home? You regroup and then what happens? We know for Brian we have to be there. Just like he would have been here for us the same way every day said fast. We got to be the same

“and that's what we'll do. I feel confident that we will prevail. I feel confident.”

But it's just unfortunate it's not to date. But when the next one come I think new set of eyes and the jurors they should be able to see this and I think we'll prevail. I think when I look back this trial in many many years I think something that will come to mind is that the trial pretty much played out like our podcast did. Same witnesses, same line of questions, same story. But what the jury didn't hear was all the things that we reported on which they

weren't allowed to hear. How do we reconcile the fact that this jury came to this verdict without even hearing all the other information which wasn't allowed? I think I'm strangely I mean the exact same place I was two weeks ago. I didn't know then. I didn't know what the verdict would be. I didn't know what the truth was and I still don't know any of those things. We've heard as much evidence as anyone on the planet except maybe my immediate police and I still couldn't tell

they'd be on a reasonable doubt that Richard and John was there and he pulled the trigger. We started reporting the story in 2017 more than a decade after Brian's murder. At the time we hoped we could help solve the case and to bring his family some closure. But then the focus of our story shifted. It became more about the investigation itself. All the ways Miami-Dade police had dropped the ball. We tried to use our reporting to hold the police accountable

for those shortcomings. We wanted law enforcement to do a better job. But once you publish a story

you can never control the consequences. There was a lot more tension on the case than there was

before. Andel Brown is a criminal defense attorney in Miami. He started out in the public defenders office. So he's seen how Miami-Dade police and prosecutors operate up close.

“What I think the detectives wanted was a mouthpiece to help them get the public to”

cooperate and come forward with information. The SPN became more of a magnifying glass and I think that scrutiny is a lot of pressure. Now in the wake of a mistrial and all the failures from the

difficult for them to see the legal process play out. And you have to balance that against the fact

“that Roshan Jones deserves a fair trial. And an accusation doesn't mean that he's guilty. The”

Pat of Family doesn't deserve to be without answers. Roshan Jones doesn't deserve to go to prison for something he didn't do. The reality of it is that the people investigating the people prosecuting have to do a good job. They have to look at all the leads. They have to go wherever the evidence takes them. And if they didn't do that, then it's a disservice to both sides of the equation. If Brian had been white, how would this be any different? If Brian had been white,

and a star football player, I don't think you would have to have to wait 5, 10, 15 years

for the interest to reach a fever pitch. Out the gate, everybody would have to provide answers for what happened to this star football player. Roshan and Brian had been players for one of the most legendary college football programs in history. Having your name on that roster, especially for your young black man, almost guaranteed some kind of opportunity. Being on those Miami teams meant so much in not only getting to the NFL, but in your value in that city. You can say I was on

that 2004, 2005, 2006 Miami team. There's value to that cashier. It meant something. Dominique Foxworth is a sports commentator and a former NFL player. He'd also played college football around the same time Roshan and Brian did. You assume that someone who is at college playing football, it feels like you're out. It feels like you've cleared the most dangerous part in the most challenging part of your life. It feels unfair, honestly, to be so close to having

the dreams that you want to realize or at least having the doors of opportunity open as a young man in his early 20s with some connections and some success to have that door slam shut, whether it's because you were shot to death or because you're on trial again and again for the murder of your teammate. That Miami Herald Reporter, Manning of Arro, had been thinking about the doors that could have opened for Brian if he hadn't died so

“young. Navarro told us he'd thought Brian would end up on TV. It's hard not to remember that,”

seeing Foxworth who was now regularly on TV, but two decades ago was just like Rashan and Brian. Playing college football, hoping to pursue bigger things. I think I do identify with both of them, but as much as I identify with any young black football player, like so much of their experience is something that I'm familiar with. We've all been in bar fights when we were in college as athletes. We felt like we were targets for that. That happened with that could have escalated to who knows.

We all have had relationships where somebody had been with someone else and they were cheating and there was this and I was in the middle of those things too. What those could have escalated to, I didn't know I did. So while I don't think of myself as someone who was ever like courting anything

like that, it's always right next to you.

For almost 10 years, we'd been coming through the details of Brian's life with one question in mind. Who had killed him? But in the world where Brian was alive, where he'd made it up the stairs to his apartment that night. The details of his life would be just that. Details that were private, the sex, the parties, the brawls, the kinds of things that could happen to a football player at a division one school. And that would be true for Rashad too. He'd be a man who'd

“failed a drug test a few times in college. You'd gotten into some fights. Who was now a father?”

Of course, that isn't the world we're in. In this world, Brian is dead, and Rashad Jones, who has been in jail for the last five years, is scheduled to go to trial again. When a mistrial happens in Florida, the state has 90 days to bring the case for a retrial. Rashad's retrial is already slated for later this spring.

And maybe this time those six people will come to a unanimous decision.

“But even if they do decide what really happened here, there's a hard truth we have come to accept.”

We may never know, really know, who killed Brian Pada.

Oh, and one other thing. I've been emailing that notorious con man, George Jones. Whatever you want to name, you want to call me a capitalist, opportunist, whatever. But when I saw the opportunity, I was like, I'll give it a shot. He knows there's going to be another trial, and he's told me he'll testify. Further right, deal, of course. And George isn't just talking to me. He reached out

“to Edwin Brian's brother. His message was direct. Did you hear ESPN's podcast where Rashad confessed to me?”

Then he dropped a cell phone number and left Edwin with four words. Rashad needs to pay.

And so it begins again. Murder at the U is based on reporting by me, Paul O'Levin, and Dan Aruda, with support from Scott Frankel, Elizabeth Merrill, and ESPN's investigative unit. Our senior producer is Matt Frasica. Our senior editorial producer is Prithi Varathon.

“Our associate producers are Megan Coil and Gus Navarro, with Isabella Seaman.”

Our story editor is Adiza Egan, additional editing by Ben Weber and Mike Drago.

Our archival producer is Matthew Fisher. Our line producer is Kath Sanky. Production managers are Jason Schwartz and Shino Williams-Zemuda. Production support from Dean Gavo Jorge Boza, Alan Jermalinsky, Carl Gaffney, Carolyn Hepburn, and Phil Gidry. Fact checking by John Mesterberry-Dino. Original music and sound designed by Ryan Ross Smith. Production assistants are Diomontate McElvie, Anthony Salas,

Avia Owensby, and Declan McMan, rights and clearances by Jennifer Thorpe, and Cal Griffith. Legal by Tamara Laurie and Peter Sheer. Mike Drago is Senior Deputy Editor of Investigative Journalism. Chris Buckle is Vice President of ESPN Investigative Enterprise and Digital Journalism. Jose Morales is the Executive Producer of Original Content. David Roberts is Executive Editor of ESPN Sports News and Entertainment. For 30-30 podcast, Prithi Varathon is head of

audio. Ben Weber is Senior Director for 30-30. Marsha Cook, Brian Lockhart, Heather Anderson, and Burke Magnus are Executive producers for 30-30. This podcast was developed by Tara Nadalney and Cynthia Parabelo. To listen to more sports series like this one, search 30-30 podcasts wherever you listen to podcasts or find us at 30-30podcast.com. Thanks for listening. [BLANK_AUDIO]