Key Highlights
- 23, 2006, weeks after Pata was gunned down.
- Jones wasn't arrested until nearly 15 years later.
- Doug Benc/Getty ImagesPaula LavigneMar 2, 2026, 11:50 AM ETCloseData analyst and reporter for ESPN's Enterprise and Investigative Unit.
- Winner, 2014 Alfred I.
- duPont Columbia University Award; finalist, 2012 IRE broadcast award; winner, 2011 Gannett Foundation Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism; Emmy nominated, 2009. Multiple AuthorsEmailPrintMIAMI -- A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the murder trial of former Miami Hurricanes player Rashaun Jones, accused of shooting of his teammate Bryan Pata in 2006. About an hour after the six jurors began their second day of deliberations, Florida 11th Circuit Court Judge Cristina Miranda came into the courtroom to address the attorneys, reading a statement from the jurors: "At this point we are deadlocked with no one willing to move." Miranda instructed them to keep trying, but after about another hour, they again said they could not render a verdict. Afterward, one jury member who asked to remain anonymous told ESPN that only one of the six jurors wanted to convict Jones."The state case was very weak, mostly circumstantial and they did not meet the burden beyond reasonable doubt," the juror said. Under Florida law, a mistrial means that prosecutors can try the case with a new jury, and a new trial must come within 90 days.