Jurors clear Miami-Dade cop of vehicular homicide four years after crash left man dead

A Miami-Dade police officer, whose patrol car wreck four years ago led to the death of a man driving the other vehicle, was cleared of any wrongdoing by jurors Thursday after the officer’s attorney attacked the lead detective in the case for ignoring potential evidence.

After about 90 minutes of deliberation, jurors cleared Officer John Song of charges of vehicular homicide, reckless driving and a pair of counts of damaging property. The March 2018 accident in deep South Miami-Dade happened when Song sped through a stop sign at almost 80 miles per hour, twice the posted speed limit.

Song, a seven-year veteran at the time of the crash, had been suspended without pay since he was formally charged with the collision in the Redland that killed Emilio Jesus Vizcaino and was so violent it left his Nissan Altima and the patrol car off the road and next to a nursery.

Song’s attorney David

Braun convinced jurors his client had the right to speed and ignore a stop sign while he was in pursuit of a stolen 2008 Lincoln MKX that he believed was taken two hours earlier during a home invasion robbery.

The attorney also attacked lead Miami-Dade traffic homicide Detective Mark Martinez, who admitted to not listening to all of the radio dispatch from the accident, which indicated that Song and other cops were in pursuit of the Lincoln when the deadly crash occurred.

“I definitely would have taken it into consideration had I known about it,” Martinez said under cross examination after being peppered by Braun.

Assistant State Attorney Laura Adams couldn’t convince the six-member jury in Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan’s courtroom that even had Song been chasing a felon, it didn’t give him the right to endanger anyone. State law allows emergency vehicles privileges like speeding and disobeying stop signs and traffic lights — but the law has limits when it comes to public endangerment.

“The conscious disregard for the safety of others is reckless,” she told jurors during the state’s closing argument.