After a decade, accused Miami child killer gets new lawyer. Judge hopes trial won’t be delayed.
Jorge Barahona, the Miami man accused of murdering his adopted daughter a decade ago, is getting a new lawyer — but a judge is still hoping to curb delays in the infamous and long-running case.
The judge on Thursday agreed to dismiss Barahona’s original lead lawyer because he is under police investigation for allegedly overbilling taxpayers for work related to a series of death-penalty cases. But Circuit Judge Nushin Sayfie declined to boot Barahona’s longtime second lawyer, saying a whole new legal team would delay a trial too long.
“This case is very old. It is very complicated. There has been tremendous time and energy and not to mention expense incurred by the state of Florida in your representation,” Sayfie told Barahona during Thursday’s virtual hearing. “Bringing in a new attorney now already is going to not only delay the process but it is also going to cost the state of Florida even more money.”
She added: “My goal is to get your case ready to go as soon as possible.”
The judge also pushed Barahona to consider engaging in talks for a plea deal with prosecutors, who have said they are open to negotiations. “I would very much like you to discuss this with your attorneys,” Sayfie said.
Any plea deal would likely entail life in prison in exchange for the waiving of the death penalty. Last year, Barahona’s wife, Carmen Barahona, pleaded guilty and accepted a life prison term as the state dropped execution as punishment.
Jorge Barahona, 53, is accused or murdering 10-year-old Nubia in February 2011, after months of torturing her and her twin brother inside the family’s Westchester house. Police found Nubia’s chemical-soaked body in the back of Barahona’s pickup truck along Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County.
The case rocked Florida’s child welfare agency, which allowed the adoption of the twins and then overlooked repeated allegations of abuse.
After years of delays, Barahona’s trial was scheduled to start in April 2020, but was postponed when the COVID-19 crisis shuttered Miami-Dade’s criminal courthouse. Trials are still postponed in Miami-Dade.
The proceedings were thrown into uncertainty after longtime lead defense lawyer David Peckins — in a story first reported by the Herald in November — was accused of overbilling in Barahona and other cases.
In a letter to a state commission, Peckins denied the allegations and has not been charged as police investigate. But even the existence of a probe raised a conflict-of-interest quandary for Barahona. The same State Attorney’s Office could, in theory anyway, be tasked with prosecuting both men.
Sayfie on Thursday agreed to take Peckins off the case. She then elevated lawyer Stuart Adelstein, who has served alongside Peckins as the second attorney since the start of the case, to the lead role.
Adelstein is not under any investigation. But Barahona, appearing from jail in the Zoom court, objected, saying the two lawyers were “one in the same.”
“If I go with Mr. Adelstein, it’s like hanging myself,” Barahona said.
Sayfie disagreed. “I have no concerns about his ability to reasonably represent you,” she said.
Another veteran Miami death-penalty lawyer, David S. Markus, will be appointed to act as the second lawyer. Each defendant facing the death penalty in Florida is afforded two attorneys, one to handle the so-called “guilty” phase of a trial, and the second to handle a possible sentencing portion of a trial.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, when Barahona could reasonably go to trial remains unclear. The case has undergone other changes that are not expected to affect the timeline.
The case’s original lead prosecutor, Gail Levine, retired last month after 35 years trying some of Miami-Dade’s most notorious killers. Assistant State Attorney Michael Von Zamft, another senior prosecutor, now joins Lara Penn on the case.
