Damning testimony
Richard Rojas was not shot in self-defense, already-convicted prosecution witness testifies
There was a struggle. Taunts and punches were thrown. But the shooting of Richard Rojas outside a Davie townhome in July 2005 did not appear to be self-defense, a key prosecution witness testified Thursday.
Richard Corbin, 39, was once a co-defendant charged with murder in Rojas’ death. But he took the stand Thursday against the three remaining defendants: Michael Bilotti, 67, Christin Bilotti, 27, and John Pacchiana, 42, who fired the fatal shots at Rojas early on July 13, 2005.
Defense lawyers have said that Rojas, 19, showed up at Christin Bilotti’s townhome to cause trouble.
They said Christin Bilotti told her family that Rojas raped her the day leading up to the shooting, broke into her second-floor bedroom while several people were down- stairs and threatened to come back looking for $2,000.
Prosecutors say none of those allegations are true.
Corbin testified he was in the Bilotti home, about 10 feet away from the entrance, when Rojas arrived at 1:30 a.m., insistent on seeing Christin. Pacchiana met him at the doorway and told him he couldn’t come in. Hostile words turned into a fight, with Rojas keeping pace with the much larger Pacchiana.
“You hit like a b----,” Rojas said, according to Corbin.
But Rojas was standing outside the house in the walkway when Pacchiana grabbed his gun and shot him twice. One bullet hit Rojas’ face, an assistant medical examiner testified. The second shot went through his neck.
The physical struggle had ended before the shooting, Corbin testified, and Pacchiana was not making any defensive moves.
“Was Richard Rojas even trying to get into the house at that point?” prosecutor Sasha Shulman asked. “No,” Corbin answered. Corbin said he yelled at Pacchiana after the shooting. “What the f--- did you just do? What did you do?” he said. He said Pacchiana told him not to worry about it, and he left the home before police were called.
Corbin pleaded guilty in August to one count of accessory to first-degree murder after the fact, and he faces up to 30 years in prison when he’s sentenced after the trial. Although no deal was made, Corbin said he’s hoping prosecutors argue for leniency in exchange for his testimony.
Defense lawyers Fred Haddad, David Bogenschutz and H. Dohn Williams got Corbin to admit that he had previously told investigators he was not in the house at the time of the shooting.
The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday.