Chief Mina’s brother opts not to seek bail
He’s accused in child sexual battery case
The attorney for Orlando police Chief John Mina’s brother decided against asking a judge to allow his client to post bail at a hearing Thursday morning.
Edward Mina, 51, who was accused last month of molestation and sexual battery of a child, will remain at the Orange County Jail, where he’s been since his May 29 arrest.
Edward Mina’s attorney, Javier Chavez, said the defense would decide “at a later time” whether to ask the judge for bail.
“We’re just not going to go forward today,” said Chavez, who works for the Orange-Osceola Public Defender’s Office.
The defense’s motion for a bond hearing hasn’t been withdrawn, which means he may ask to schedule another bond hearing before trial.
Circuit Judge Keith F. White scheduled a pretrial hearing for Aug. 7.
During a previous court appearance, White set a $25,000 bond for the molestation charge, but left Mina without the option to pay bail on the sexual battery accusation.
Court records show a teenage girl told Orange County sheriff’s detectives Edward Mina had molested her repeatedly over the course of three years, starting when she was 10 years old. The girl said the abuse began with Mina “teaching [her] how to kiss” and progressed to molestation.
According to an arrest affidavit, he told the girl to keep the abuse “our little secret.”
In a phone call monitored by the Sheriff’s Office, Mina also urged the girl not to tell investigators the truth, the affidavit said. “If you tell them the truth, I am going to go to jail for a long time,” he told her, according to the affidavit. “If you don’t tell them the truth I will do anything.”
At the time of his brother’s arrest, John Mina called the charges “extremely serious and disturbing,” adding that he was most concerned about the welfare and privacy of the victim and would not comment further.