It was a terrible accident, but the police did not bother to issue a traffic ticket. Two months later, however, Dade County prosecutors charged the 30-year-old Rodriguez, a recent Nicaraguan immigrant, with vehicular homicide. The novel theory: Rodriguez was gravely reckless not merely in making a dangerous turn but in failing to protect his daughter. The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison, although prosecutors indicated they would seek only probation.
Last week, in the middle of his trial, a court acquitted Rodriguez - even before the defense put on any testimony or the jury could deliberate. Circuit Judge Sidney Shapiro said the two elements combined by the state-bad driving and not using a child restraint seat-were essentially traffic violations. “This court does not believe,” Shapiro declared, that two infractions equal one crime. Jurors interviewed afterward apparently were split on how they would have resolved the case. The judge’s decision cannot be appealed.
On hearing the surprise ruling through a Spanish interpreter, Rodriguez hugged his attorney and supporters, and then left the crowded courtroom for a church. “I feel nervous and happy, but the pain I have won’t go away,” he said. “I have to struggle to continue with what I have left.”
