MIAMI – From the Miami-Dade County jail, Pablo Lyle appeared via Zoom at a pre-sentencing hearing on Wednesday morning in Miami-Dade County court.
As the Mexican actor is awaiting sentencing, after he was convicted of manslaughter, his attorney attributed his absence in court to “a mixup” with corrections.
Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez had yet to respond to Lyle’s request for a new trial. She also had yet to say whether or not she will include his time on house arrest as part of a sentence that could range from nine to 15 years in prison.
After the jury’s verdict on Oct. 4, Tinkler Mendez ordered the Department of Corrections to conduct an investigation and issue a sentencing recommendation. The evidence in the case was placed in a vault on Oct. 5.
Lyle’s defense team, led by Attorney Phil Reizenstein, asked Tinkler Mendez on Oct. 13 to vacate the judgment and allow a new trial. Lyle’s next hearing was scheduled for 8:30 a.m., on Nov. 14.
Prosecutors had video of the street road rage incident on March 31, 2019, at the intersection of Northwest 27th Avenue and 14th Street. It showed Juan Ricardo Hernandez getting out of his car and banging on the driver’s side window of the vehicle Lyle and his family were in.
Lyle was not driving. His brother-in-law Lucas Delfino was and he had cut off Hernandez and gotten out of his car too. Prosecutors said the video showed Hernandez was walking back to his car when Lyle jumped out of the car, ran toward him, and delivered a knock-out punch.
Miami Fire Rescue personnel found Hernandez, 63, on the street.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Lisa Walsh allowed Lyle to travel back home to Mexico, while Hernandez was unresponsive at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. A few days after the punch, Hernandez died and prosecutors filed the manslaughter case on April 1, 2019.
Lyle flew back to Miami and his defense attorneys argued it was a case of self-defense. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine disagreed. During the trial, Lyle’s defense argued it was a case about “fear.” The prosecution said it was about “anger.” The jury sided with the prosecution.
Also after the verdict, attorney Zena Duncan, who is representing the victim’s family, released a statement saying they were grateful and looking forward to the sentencing.
“It has been and will be a very difficult world for them without Juan Ricardo. He was a joyous, caring man who loved his family and enjoyed life,” Duncan wrote. “No measure of justice will right the injustice that occurred on that street.”
On Wednesday, Delfino said in Spanish that Lyle’s loved ones want the sentencing to be done “as fast as possible.”