Judge dismisses ‘invisible weapon’ charge after suspect reappears in Rickenbacker murder trial

MIAMI – Kadel Piedrahita was back on the witness stand Friday as he was tried for the 2019 killing of a cyclist on the Rickenbacker Causeway.

Prosecutor Arvind Singh cross-examined Piedrahita, who testified in his own defense in a second-degree murder case. He also faces charges of aggravated assault with a firearm for threatening another cyclist, prosecutors said.

Singh tried to undermine Piedrahita’s testimony to jurors that he shot cyclist Alexis Palencia along the Rickenbacker Causeway on Aug. 14, 2019, in self-defense. It appears the two men were already at odds.

An angry selfie video posted by the accused on Facebook days before the shooting shows him lashing out at Palencia.

Jurors were shown video of the defendant approaching the victim on his motorcycle, in which the defendant is seen kicking the spokes of the victim’s rear tire.

Piedrahita told the jury that three people, including Palencia, attacked him before the shooting.

The state presented photos of his face taken hours after the incident.

“I was punched in the face several times that day,” Piedrahita testified.

In another video, the state showed that one of the men who Piedrahita said had punched him before the shooting was actually approaching on a bicycle after the shooting.

During cross-examination, as the defense tried to refocus jurors on their view of the case, Piedrahita said he wasn’t trying to kick the victim’s tire, but rather that he lost his balance.

Later, after jurors left the courtroom, the judge minced no words in rejecting a defense request to recall a witness linked to a claim their client made on the stand yesterday that the victim may have been armed.

“I’ve been on this case since 2019. He’s had what, four lawyers? So you’re the fifth set of lawyers? I conducted Arthur’s hearing, and not once during that time did anyone, including your client, mention that there was a gun,” the judge said. “Apparently it was an invisible gun because he’s the only one who saw it. No other witness has testified in the last five years that they saw this gun. It’s like it just magically appeared.”

The judge added: “No firearm has ever been located by anyone involved in this investigation, including officers, detectives or anyone else who provided statements about this mysterious firearm.”