Someday, Carlos Bertonatti will have to face a jury to explain what happened in the early morning of Jan. 17, 2010 -- the day police say he drunkenly killed a cyclist on the Rickenbacker Causeway, then sped away into Key Biscayne with the victim's bike still wedged underneath his car. But not today. For the ninth time since prosecutors charged Bertonatti with DUI manslaughter and two other felonies, a judge delayed his trial again this morning. Bertonatti remains on house arrest in the meantime.
This time, the delay comes because the prosecutor handling his case is tied up with another ongoing trial, says Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.
"This case will be continued due to the fact that the prosecutor is still in trial in Key West," Griffith says. "She expects the Key West trial to go well beyond Monday."
A judge granted the continuance in the trial this morning; there's no word yet on when the next hearing will be scheduled.
Funny how guys who can afford a $500,000 bond and spend their house arrest in Key Biscayne aren't quite as eager to get their trial underway as the guys stuck in county lockup, isn't it?
Bertonatti, an aspiring pop singer, has pleaded not guilty to killing 44-year-old Christophe LeCanne.
The more recent accused killer Rickenbacker driver -- Michele Traverso, a 25-year-old who police say drunkenly killed cyclist Aaron Cohen in nearly the same spot as Bertonatti's wreck -- has also pleaded not guilty.
The next hearing in Traverso's case is scheduled for Friday; no trial date has been set yet.
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