By The new day
Aug 31, 2023, 11:29 AM EDT
By Alex Figueroa Cancel
PUERTO RICO – The federal prosecutor’s office reported that, for the moment, it will not seek a second trial against Félix Verdejo for the charges in which a jury did not reach an agreement when it delivered a verdict against him on July 28.
Verdejo was found guilty of two of the four charges against him: kidnapping and the death of an unborn baby, in relation to the murder of Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz.
Meanwhile, the jury returned no verdict on the carjacking and gun violation charges.
In a motion filed in federal court last Tuesday, prosecutors Jonathan Gottfried and Jeanette M. Collazo Ortiz indicated that they reserve the right to re-file the carjacking and weapons complaints, but not at this time.
They indicated that “while the public prosecutor does not intend to proceed with a second trial on counts one and three at this time, it nevertheless expresses that it reserves the right to seek an indictment in the future with respect to the charges in which the jury did not reached an agreement”.
When a jury returns no verdict on a charge, the prosecution has the opportunity to seek a new trial on those specific charges.
In this case, the public prosecutor chose to request, in the motion, the dismissal of these two charges “without prejudice”, which means that they can resubmit them.
Prosecutors explained that the move responds to “conserving time and resources that would be spent in a second trial,” at a time when Verdejo is already on his way to being sentenced to prison for the charges in which he was found guilty.
They also noted that such dismissal “may assist in a more expeditious decision on any appeal by the defendant.”
The sentence is scheduled for November 3 in Judge Pedro Delgado’s room.
Keep reading:
Lawyers for former boxer Félix Verdejo request the acquittal of their client for the charges in which a federal jury in Puerto Rico found him guilty
Federal jury in Puerto Rico finds former boxer Félix Verdejo guilty on two counts in the murder case of Keishla Rodríguez
The brutal testimony of an alleged partner of Félix Verdejo in the murder of Keishla Rodríguez that marked the first phase of the trial against the ex-boxer in Puerto Rico