MIAMI – The trial of Rafael Otano, one of the two men who stand accused of kidnapping a man and beating him up while they were working as police officers in Hialeah, started on Monday in Miami-Dade County court.
Otano and Lorenzo Orfila responded to a bakery where Jose Ortega-Gutierrez wasn’t welcome, handcuffed him, and took him to a desolated area to beat him up on Dec. 17, according to prosecutors.
Ortega-Gutierrez, 50, who was homeless, was treated for his injuries, detectives investigated the allegation, and prosecutors charged Otano, 27, and Orfila, 22, with armed kidnapping and battery.
“Nobody is above the law — including the defendant,” Assistant State Attorney Shawn Albuhoff said during his opening statement in court.
Albuhoff showed a graphic of the GPS system data that reported the whereabouts of the officer’s patrol car from the bakery near the intersection of West 19 Street and 60 Avenue to traveling about six miles to an area outside of their jurisdiction that is known for illegal dumping.
“They betrayed the victim,” Albuhoff said. “They betrayed the badge, and they betrayed the community.”
Attorney Michael Pizzi, who is representing Otano, has been questioning the reliability of the GPS system and the data that prosecutors said incriminate his client.
“There is zero evidence of Mr. Otano battering anybody,” Pizzi said during his opening statement on Monday in court, later adding, “We believe when you reach the end of the case, you will ask yourself, ‘Why is this young man in the courtroom?’ and ‘What is he doing here?’”
Albuhoff also showed the jury images that he said show Ortega-Gutierrez’s condition before and after his encounter with Hialeah police officers, who did not use their police radios or activate their body cameras.
“Mr. Otano was not there, had nothing to do with it, wasn’t present,” Pizzi said in court.
After the attorneys’ opening statements, the Miami-Dade police officer who found Ortega-Gutierrez injured on Dec. 17 and called 911, testified.
“He told me he was mugged, dropped off in a nearby area. He appeared to be in crisis. He was crying. He appeared hurt,” said the police officer, who asked not to be identified because of his undercover work.
The Miami-Dade police officer also said Ortega-Gutierrez was “very adamant” that “several officers” from the Hialeah Police Department had “put him in the condition” that he was in. He said he described one of them as tall and blond.
“At that point, I called 911,” the police officer said.
Officers Steven Bauer and Yony Ferrer, two of the Hialeah police officers who responded to the Miami-Dade police officer’s call for help after finding Ortega-Gutierrez injured, also testified.
“He just kept repeating the same thing over and over again,” Bauer said about Ortega-Gutierrez adding that he never reported that the two police officers had been the ones who hurt him.
The detectives’ findings prompted Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr. and Hialeah Police Chief George Fuente to terminate Otano and Ofila. Both surrendered to face charges in January and Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Robert Watson set Orfila’s bond at $20,000 and Otano’s bond at $10,000 in February allowing pre-trial house arrest.
Ali Amin Saleh, a private investigator, later offered Ortega-Gutierrez money so he wouldn’t report the beating, according to prosecutors. Juan Prietocofino, a notary, was accused of fraud for notarizing an affidavit.
Orfila is also facing a charge of official misconduct, and Saleh, 46, is facing a charge of witness tampering. Otano and Orfila could face life in prison if found guilty of kidnapping. Court proceedings will resume at 9 a.m., on Wednesday.
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