For the past two nights, we've been telling you about the ongoing troubles in the murder trial of Saul Cardona and Mark Flowers accused of killing Mark "Puss" Saragoza. Well tonight we can report that as might have been predicted it's all fallen apart and after nine months on remand the two accused are free men tonight.
Just before 11:00 this morning, beleaguered Prosecutor Carlo Mason rested his case, and asked Justice John Gonzalez to instruct the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. With that concession, Justice Gonzalez pointed out that indeed the key witness did not come through and instructed the jury to the not guilty verdict. Gonzalez then pointed to a worrying trend of failed murder prosecutions and said that it is not the prosecutor's fault. According to the judge, the blame is on society on a whole, because so many fear testifying against accused criminals.
Cardona and Flowers had been accused of shooting Mark Saragosa three times, at the junction of Mahogany Street and Western Avenue on September 6, 2003.
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