Judge frustrated with State Attorney's Office in Walton case

By: Andy Slater

"Who's in charge of this investigation?"

Those were the words of Judge Fred Seraphin Wednesday morning after he asked the State Attorney's Office why they were still not ready to proceed with Mark Walton's trial.

"Why is this not done yet, this was from April," Judge Seraphin asked assistant state attorney Nicole Garcia, who said she's in charge.

"We're still trying to investigate this to see whether we proceed on the DUI," Garcia responded.

"What do you mean you're trying to investigate," Judge Seraphin replied. "What does that mean you're trying?"

On June 8, the State Attorney's Office requested more time to investigate their case against the Hurricanes running back. The request was granted until Wednesday morning, when the state's second request was denied. 

"There's a couple of issues in the case as to whether it's going to be a DUI or if it's going to be something else, " Garcia told Judge Seraphin. 

"You guys filed a DUI charge, so therefore you believe you had probable cause to arrest and to file the charges, Judge Seraphin said to Garcia. "The facts are the facts." 

Walton's attorney Joey McCall said "despite the evidence that the City of Miami police claimed that they had, [the State Attorney's Office] is still not even sure if this is a DUI or not three months later."

McCall pointed out something else that he said was "not normal."

"The judge asked [Garcia] who her supervisor was," McCall said. "Perhaps there's an issue procedurally with what she's doing and maybe even the judge is calling into question what exactly is going on with this case."

The Canes running back was arrested on April 23 and charged with DUI and knowingly driving with a suspended license.

Walton's trial is set for the middle of July.

The University of Miami suspended Walton indefinitely immediately after his arrest. As I reported, though, Walton was reinstated. The school has yet to release any updated statement regarding his status.

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(Photo: Sun Sentinel)

Walton's trial postponed, state says they're not ready

By: Andy Slater

Wednesday morning in a Miami-Dade courtroom, the State Attorney's Office said they need more time to investigate their case against Miami Hurricanes running back Mark Walton.  

"Despite the fact of everything that's been publicized by the City of Miami Police in the news, they're still not ready," Walton's attorney Joey McCall said.

McCall told Judge Fred Seraphin that the state produced a list of 15 key witnesses and wondered what they could still be investigating. Seraphin said he didn't know, doesn't have to ask, and then granted the state's request for more time.

"Anytime that someone is accused of something that they didn't do, justice should see that the process is expeditious and not one that drags on and lingers, "McCall said after the hearing. "Hopefully the state will investigate further what we already know, that these charges are invalid, that there's nothing there, and they drop the charges against [Walton]." 

The trial had been scheduled to begin June 20. 

The Canes running back was arrested on April 23 and charged with DUI and knowingly driving with a suspended license.

The University of Miami suspended Walton indefinitely immediately after his arrest. As I reported, though, Walton was recently reinstated. The school has yet to release any updated statement regarding his status.

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(Photo: Palm Beach Post)

Mark Walton's demand granted, jury trial date set

By: Andy Slater

Hurricanes running back Mark Walton is fast on the field and in the Miami-Dade court system.

Walton's demand for a speedy trial was granted at a hearing on Friday morning, according to his attorney Ricky Patel. 

Walton's trial is scheduled to begin on June 20, less than two months after his arrest. Patel requested a trial by jury.

On April 23, Walton was arrested for DUI and knowingly driving with a suspended license --- the two charges he currently faces.

The Canes star was also accused of impersonating a police officer and battery two days prior to his arrest. "Mark Walton was the victim here," Patel said when asked about that accusation. Patel then exclusively showed me an alleged text message exchange between Walton and his accuser.

No charges have been filed pertaining to that incident.

Walton has been reinstated by the Canes and is participating in team activities, as I first reported. The University of Miami has yet to officially release a statement, though.

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(Photo: USA Today)

Text messages tell Mark Walton's side of the story

By: Andy Slater

You may have seen the police reports. Now, you get to hear about text messages allegedly exchanged between Miami Hurricanes running back Mark Walton and his accuser.

After exclusively sitting down on Thursday with Walton's attorney, Ricky Patel, I was shown the alleged text exchange between the accuser and Walton. The phone number listed on the text message thread did match the accuser's phone number listed on the police incident report. 

Last week, I raised questions about the alleged incident and began to wonder if it was possible that Walton could have been setup.

As I reported on April 23, multiple sources confirmed to me that Walton is the suspect who's listed as "Salomon" on the Miami police incident report. The accuser told police the suspect was impersonating a cop, pulled her over, and groped her. Patel said that's far from the truth.

"Mark Walton was the victim here," Patel told me on Thursday.

This is where the story gets bizarre.

The alleged text exchange between Walton and his accuser begins Friday night, April 22, just before 11pm --- That's seven hours after the accuser told police about the alleged incident and about four hours before Walton was arrested.

In the text messages that I was shown, Walton's accuser starts by thanking him for making sure she got home in the early morning hours of April 21. She then tells Walton he should swing by her house. 

After reading many more messages, there was one common theme: Walton's accuser wanted him to come over and quickly.

From what I saw, there were times she wrote to Walton that she was home alone and for him to hurry because she was going to fall asleep. Walton told her to take an Uber to his place and he'd have a driver take them out from there. She said no.

As time went by, Emojis and more messages came from the accuser's phone asking where Walton was since he had not shown up yet.

Just after 3am on April 23, Walton sent his accuser a text saying he had arrived. That was the last text sent. Minutes later, Walton was arrested. 

Walton pled not guilty to the DUI charge and knowingly driving with a suspended license charge on Thursday morning, but was he baited into the entire situation?

"Mark was helping this girl on the side of the road, not harming her," Patel said.

Walton was suspended indefinitely by the University of Miami after the arrest, but I've learned he will be reinstated by the team after the athletic department began to gather more information.

The rest of the story? It appears far from over. 

"They're [State Attorney's Office] actually going to put the officers under sworn testimony in order to determine how to proceed forward," Walton's other attorney Joey McCall said.

The accuser's attorney has been asked to comment, but is yet to respond.

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(Photo: Miami Herald)