MIAMI – Mexican actor Pablo Lyle, who is charged with manslaughter in connection with a road rage incident, appeared in court Wednesday and was granted roaming status in Miami-Dade County.
Lyle, 33, whose defense team had filed a motion to modify the conditions of his release and allow him to return to Mexico, has been on house arrest following the March 2019 incident that left Juan Hernandez, 63, dead.
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Miami-Dade County Judge Marlene Fernandez-Karavetsos denied the motion to allow him to return to his home country but Lyle’s attorney, Bruce Lehr, said they are grateful for the new freedoms he will have.
“The judge was very generous and allowed him to change from a very restrictive house arrest to roaming, which means he can live his life in Miami. He is just restricted to sleep in the apartment, but he is able to go around and live a normal life pending trial,” Lehr said.
According to authorities, Lyle was in the passenger seat of a red SUV heading to Miami International Airport last March when his brother-in-law, Lucas Del Fino, cut off a blue car driven by Hernandez in the area of Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 14th Street.
Surveillance video from the scene shows Hernandez, who appeared to be upset, getting out his car at the red light and approaching Del Fino.
Del Fino gets out and the pair exchange words as the SUV rolls toward the intersection, the video shows.
"We were very close to each other. We were both yelling at each other," Del Fino said during a hearing last year. "I was yelling at him, 'Don't touch my car. Don't you bang on my car.' I said that in Spanish."
The video shows Del Fino dashing back to catch the rolling SUV when the actor gets out of the passenger seat, goes toward Hernandez and throws a punch that knocks the man out of frame onto the street.
Mexican 'telenovela' star Pablo Lyle returns to Miami-Dade court
Hernandez, who suffered a head injury, was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died four days later.
Fernandez-Karavetsos recently replaced Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine in the case.
Lyle is appealing Fine’s refusal in August to dismiss the case under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” immunity law. Fine said in court that he decided the self-defense law didn’t protect Lyle because the video shows Hernandez was walking away when he punched him.
Lyle is expected to return to court March 20 to see if the Third District Court of Appeals has ruled on that matter.