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Dreamstime\/TNS<\/p>\n
A man sentenced to life for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl was granted a new trial on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
A three-judge panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal reversed Eduardo Alfredo Medrano-Chavez\u2019s conviction, finding that the trial court abused its discretion when it allowed the jury to consider a detective\u2019s testimony about the victim\u2019s statement being \u201cgenuine.\u201d That error, according to the opinion, may have contributed to Medrano-Chavez\u2019s conviction.<\/p>\n
In November 2024, a jury convicted Medrano-Chavez, 51, of sexual activity with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation. Five months later, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Christine Hernandez sentenced him to life.<\/p>\n
Eduardo Alfredo Medrano-Chavez Florida Department of Corrections <\/p>\n
In the opinion, Judge Thomas Logue wrote that there was no physical evidence \u2014 and that the victim was the only witness who testified about the sexual abuse.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The victim\u2019s] credibility played an important role in the State\u2019s prosecution of the case because it was [the victim\u2019s] word versus Medrano-Chavez\u2019s word,\u201d the opinion says.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the girl called Miami-Dade police to report that she had been sexually abused by Medrano-Chavez years prior, when she was 14 and 15, at an apartment just east of Miami International Airport. The sexual abuse happened more than 10 times, according to Medrano-Chavez\u2019s police report.<\/p>\n
After the girl, who is now living in Maryland, reported the abuse, Miami-Dade investigators requested that a Maryland detective interview the girl due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That interview was recorded, the opinion says, and Miami-Dade detectives received a copy of the video.<\/p>\n
During the trial, the prosecutor asked the detective about the probe into the sexual-abuse allegations. The detective then testified that he saw the victim\u2019s demeanor in the video and \u201cfrom my experience, it was genuine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Medrano-Chavez\u2019s defense attorney objected to the detective\u2019s statement, and the judge overruled the objection. Under the rules of evidence, witnesses should not weigh in on the credibility of other witnesses; credibility is left for the jury to decide.<\/p>\n
Explaining how the testimony could have led to Medrano-Chavez\u2019s conviction, Judge Logue said Medrano-Chavez\u2019s defense also centered on the victim\u2019s credibility: He claimed the girl concocted the sexual abuse to apply for a special immigration visa reserved for crime victims.<\/p>\n
The appeal was heard by Logue, Chief Judge Edwin Scales III and Judge Fleur Lobree of the 3DCA, which has 10 judges.<\/p>\n
A hearing for Medrano-Chavez\u2019s new trial has not been set as of Friday, court records show. Prison records indicate Medrano-Chavez remains at the Hamilton Annex in North Florida.<\/p>\n
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