Judge declares mistrial after witness says defendant was immigrant

Dorrien Pitts cradled his face in his hand after his testimony caused a Lee County judge to halt a court proceeding.

Pitts was there to testify about how Brian Hyde came to live in his Lehigh Acres home. Hyde is accused of stabbing his aunt, her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend in August of 2015.

The trial, more than two years in the making, was over in less than two hours after Pitts inadvertently testified about Hyde’s immigration status. Jury selection occurred on Tuesday. The opening statements began Wednesday morning.

But just under three minutes into Pitts’ moment on the stand, it was over.

“He is my wife’s nephew so she asked if he can come stay with us,” Pitts said, adding he was incarcerated at the Texas detention center for illegally crossing.

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The attorneys met at sidebar. And shortly after that, Judge Margaret O. Steinbeck ordered the jury out.

"Mr. Hyde's immigration status is not relevant and it's potentially prejudicial," Steinbeck said. "Let's see if you can unring the bell."

Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner tried, but could not.

“The entire family is from Belize and that Mr. Hyde had been temporarily detained in order to be released to the family,” Gardiner said. “He wasn’t charged with any type of crime.”

“It was inadvertent and it was brief and I think we can overcome that,” Gardiner said.

He asked Steinbeck to instruct the jury the information was irrelevant.

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But, Hyde’s attorneys disagreed. Prior to trial, they filed a motion that Hyde’s immigration status be hands off. They declined to comment after the court proceeding.

“Unfortunately, we live in a time where it is a hot-button issue,” said Assistant Public Defender Jay Brizel. “We have half a country who favors building a wall along the Texas border.

“I don’t believe we can unring this bell.”

Steinbeck agreed.

Tamara Lave, an associate professor of law at the University of Miami, said the judge made the right call.

“Judges are reluctant to call a mistrial,” Lave said. “When you call a mistrial it means everything you’ve done thus far is lost.”

Lave said at times a judge can instruct a jury to ignore a statement that is made, but there are some things that jury instruction can’t correct.

“In this instant, the judge thought in the climate we are currently in that a jury would not be able to forget that the accused was an illegal immigrant right now with what is a xenophobic and racist attitude in our country,” Lave said.

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She said the situation is unfortunate for the family, “the defendant has constitutional rights and those take priority over efficiency concerns.”

Prior to Pitts’ testimony, the jury, made up of five women and three men, listened to opening statements.

In addition to the deaths of 37-year-old Dora Pitts, 17-year-old Starlette Pitts and 19-year-old Michael Kelly, Hyde also faces a charge for the death of the younger Pitts and Kelly’s unborn child. In total, he faces four second-degree murder charges.

Gardiner detailed how the three victims were found with multiple cuts and slashes to their bodies. Sexual assault kits found evidence of semen comparable to Hyde’s on the two women’s bodies, Gardiner said. Hyde left 1-year-old A’Ziah Kelly alive in the home. She was found by deputies crying with blood on her, but unhurt.

Brizel said in his opening statement that deputies had focused so hard on Hyde as their suspect that they ignored other evidence at the crime scene, including footprints, blood splatter and fingerprints that weren’t analyzed.

Both sides told the jury they would get to determine whether Hyde was guilty or not.

But they didn’t get the chance.

“It’s not something that any judge does lightly,” Steinbeck said.