HIALEAH, Fla. – It’s Day Two in the trial of a former Hialeah police officer, one of two accused of beating a man who was handcuffed in their custody, according to prosecutors.
The second day of testimony had several witnesses who work in the area where the victim was taken into custody and others who responded to the 911 call after the victim was allegedly beaten by Hialeah police.
“No one is above the law including the defendant,” Assistant Miami-Dade State Attorney Shawn Abuhoff said about Rafael Otano.
Otano, 27, is facing felony charges of armed kidnapping and aggravating battery. He and another former officer are accused of beating Jose Ortega-Gutierrez. The two answered a disturbance call outside of the Los Tres Conejitos Bakery on West 60th Street in Hialeah on Dec. 17.
GPS data shows the squad car driving to an isolated area six miles away from the bakery where they allegedly beat Ortega-Gutierrez.
Body cam video shows an undercover Miami-Dade Police Officer who found the man in a neighborhood, moments after he was allegedly left bloodied and injured nearby. The officer took the stand on Tuesday.
“He told me he was mugged, robbed and dropped off in a nearby area. He was crying and appeared hurt,” the undercover officer said.
On Tuesday, Otano’s attorney Michael Pizzi said, “There is zero evidence of Mr. Otano battering anybody.”
Testimony from a paramedic who responded to a 911 call placed by the undercover officer said that Ortega-Gutierrez had an “abrasion, like a scrape, on top of his head“ but no active bleeding.
The defense is painting the alleged victim as untrustworthy, pointing to his history of fighting, alcohol abuse and prior convictions.
Pizzi asked one of the responding officers on the stand if he had “seen any photos or video of what (Ortega-Guiterrez) looked like in the 12 fist fights in the month of December that he got into.”
He also said he will be able to prove that the GPS in Otano’s vehicle was faulty
“It’s gonna show when we know it was stationary in a garage (that it was) going a bunch of different directions,” said Pizzi.
On Tuesday afternoon, the owner of Los Tres Conejitos was expected to take the stand.