Teen Accused of Mom’s Savage Slaying Loses Big in Court

So, you went to sleep around 10:00? >> Yeah. >> Okay. And then when I woke up, you. killed her. All right. >> The case of Derek Rosa, the teenager. accused of killing his own mother while. she was asleep beside her newborn, has. been shocking Florida for nearly 2 years. now. The judge at the center of it all, has made a decision that could change. the course of this trial. Was he forced. to step aside, or will he stay on the. case? Well, we're going to break it all. down with a Florida criminal defense. attorney. and let's talk about it right.

now. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law. and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Now, if you've been following us for a. while, you are well familiar with the. case of Derek Rosa, who at just 13 years. old called 911 in the middle of the. night and allegedly confessed to. something unthinkable, that he killed. his own mother. police. They rushed to. this scene and what they discovered, it. set off one of South Florida's most. chilling criminal cases in recent. memory. And now, after nearly two years,

the judge at the center of it all has. made a pivotal decision about whether or. not he will stay on this case. Now, before we get to that ruling, we're. going to rewind. It's October 12th, 2023. in Hyia. Inside a small apartment, 39-year-old Ireina Garcia is asleep. beside her newborn baby's crib. This is. Rose's baby sister, 14 days old. And a. few doors away, Rosa is awake. Hours. later, police say he would stab his.

mother more than 40 times while she. slept, leaving that infant thankfully. unharmed in her crib. And moments after. this attack, officers would arrive to. find a scene that would shock this. community. And you have a son who would. calmly call 911, seemingly confessing. what had just happened. There is body. cam from the early hours after the crime. that captures Rose's apparent. confession. >> So, you went to sleep around 10?

>> Yeah. >> Okay. And then when I woke up, you. killed her. All right. Um, what type of what type of knife was it? Do you know? >> It was a big size kitchen knife. >> That big? >> Yeah. What color was the the the handle? >> Purple. >> Purple. >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh your mom was sleeping. >> Yes, she was sleeping. >> Okay. >> Now, he allegedly tells police that he.

used a kitchen knife with a purple. handle and then instead of choosing to. unlive himself, he called a friend. online, an acquaintance that he didn't. even really know by real name, and sent. them photos. >> I intend to show myself before, but I. couldn't. >> Okay. Um, and then what did you do? >> I decided to call my friends to tell. them what happened. >> How many friends did you call? >> Only one. >> What's his name?

>> I don't know his real name. He's an. online friend. >> Did you tell him how. >> or no? How you killed her or no? >> Okay. Did you send them any pictures? >> Yes. Uh, how many pictures did you send them? >> I sent him two of my mama and one of me. >> Okay. Um, did you. What did he tell you?

>> Said he couldn't believe it. >> Why did you uh kill your mother? >> Do you know? Do I have to say it now? >> Yeah. Get it off your chest. Absolutely. >> Can't wait for a lawyer. >> Okay. At this point, you want a lawyer? >> Maybe not. >> We We can't. No. Listen. Listen. Just so. you understand. Okay. You have mentioned. or asked us should you wait for a. lawyer. We're not here to advise you on.

whether to talk to a lawyer or not, that. decision is yours. Okay? But if you are. requesting a lawyer at this point, we. can't interview you any further. You. saying we have to stop the interview. Okay. >> Do you want us to stop the interview? >> Yes. >> Okay. Well, then this interview will end. right now. >> It is. 3:05 a.m. >> Okay. Thank you.

>> So, Rosa was taken into custody. He was. charged as an adult, by the way, with. firstdegree murder. And as prosecutors. continue to build their case against. him, they have amassed chilling. evidence. Maybe the most haunting pieces. of evidence aren't from inside the. bedroom at all, but from outside. You. have four short video clips that were. captured on the family's home security. system. Prosecutors released them last. year. In one of them, Derek Rosa can be. heard on the phone calmly giving someone. his apartment number. >> Uh 2011.

In another, he seems to mumble something. in Spanish to his mother about a. possession that wasn't working properly. >> But I got to say, maybe the most. chilling clip, it lasts just 8 seconds. Rosa walks into the apartment. In the. background, his mother, Arena Garcia, is. seated in a chair breastfeeding her. 14-day old daughter. And hours later, police say Garcia would be stabbed more.

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at your apartment. >> Moments later, red and blue lights, they. wash across the screen as officers pull. into the parking lot. Now, the baby. monitor images from inside the newborn's. room. They appear to capture Ros's. mother lying down next to the crib at. around 10:00 in the evening. And less. than an hour later, images appear to. show Rosa on top of his mother just. before or during the killing. And from. the start, Rosa's attorneys have argued. that their client, barely a teenager at. the time, deserves compassion and.

fairness from the system. But what has. happened in recent months? Their focus. has shifted to the judge overseeing this. case, Circuit Judge Richard Hirsch. In a. motion filed earlier this month, Rose's. defense had asked this judge to. disqualify himself, saying that his. behavior had crossed the line from firm. to biased. Now, we will get into the. details of this motion, but to help. break it all down, I want to bring on. Florida criminal defense attorney Caseia. Early. Caseia, thank you so much for. coming on. It's so good to see you. again. Um, how unusual is it for a.

13-year-old to be charged as an adult in. Florida, particularly for firstdegree. murder? >> Yes. Well, unfortunately, it's good. seeing you, Jesse, as well. Unfortunately, if you reach the age of. accountability and the charge is as. serious as first-degree murder, uh. oftent times the state attorney's. office, if information is filed, will. direct file that juvenile out of the. juvenile program into the adult.

facility. And this is what happened here. with the exception that there was a. grand jury indictment that charged him. as an adult even though at the time he. was 14 years old. So it is common based. on the severity of the allegations and. the charge. >> Now I want to talk about this motion. What is the legal standard by which a. judge has to be disqualified for alleged. bias? And by the way, a judge deciding. they're bone biased. I mean how does. that work? >> Yes. I mean it's a fine line because you.

based on the motion the court which is. the judge in this instance uh if you. take the allegations as true that that. judge is not being a fair and impartial. judge then often times what a judge will. do is recuse themselves. But there's. been times when it's a well-ritten. motion by the defense and the judge has. refused to recuse themselves based on. the allegations or based on the alleged. conduct. There has to be more than just. a complaint or the appearance of the. judge being unfair. And oftentimes when.

the defense draft these motions, they. typically attach a transcript. Let's say. there was an initial hearing and the. judge did not allow them to have access. to the record or made some egregious. comments from the bench. A transcript is. usually attached to that. And if the. judge decides, well, these allegations. are not true and decides not to recuse. himself, there's always a higher court, but usually it has to have more evidence. than your belief, your subjective belief. that the judge is being unfair.

>> Do you see that often? Judges being. unfair and high-profile, heinous crimes. >> I see it in regular trials. I mean, I. filed my share of motions uh to recuse a. judge. Usually, it's when the judge. lacks judicial temperament, when the. judge is just being extremely rude. And. you may say, "Well, what's the reason. that you will file a motion to recuse if. a judge is being rude?" Well, if a judge. is talking down to you, cutting you off. and not allowing you access to the. record, then sometimes your client will. see that behavior and lose confidence in.

you as counsel. So, it's imperative that. the judge not only follows the law, but. exhibits the proper judicial temperament. so that we can zealously advocate for a. client. I've filed motions in the past. to recuse a judge if I believe that my. client was not receiving a fair trial. And some have been granted and some have. been denied. >> And by the way, before we move forward, what are the unique challenges that a. defense attorney faces when they're. representing a young person like this. accused of a violent crime, a juvenile. is being tried as an adult. What are the.

challenges there? >> Several. I've had many cases and in fact. um I worked at the assistant public. defenders office in Broward County. initially in a juvenile division and. then in the adult facility. Typically. the challenge when representing a. client, whether it's an injet client or. someone being accused of a crime, specifically a juvenile, you want to. ensure that they're first competent to. proceed, that they understand the legal. basis, they understand the procedure, the charges, and if they do not, I. typically request a competency. evaluation just to make sure that they.

understand and they're able to assist me. with their own defense. And if that's. not sufficient, there's sometimes that I. will request a forensic psychological. assessment, whether it's educational. assessment to see if that uh juvenile or. defendant has some educational. developmental delays because if they. cannot assist me in their defense, it's. going to be hard as their defense. attorney to provide a proper defense. during trial. >> So, let's get into this motion, okay, about the disqualification. Now, when. Rose's lawyers filed their motion to.

disqualify Judge Richard Hirsch, they. didn't really mince any words, saying, quote, "Derek Rose's motion is based on. a well-grounded fear that Judge Hirs is. biased against him." This fear, amongst. other factors, stems from Judge Hirs's. actions and attitude against Derek Rosa. and the defense. And the motion laid out. what they called a disturbing pattern of. quote animosity, hostility, mocking. comments, lack of temperament, control, inappropriate tone, inappropriate. gesturing, inappropriate comments,

disparaging comments about Rose's. medical conditions, and overall. expressions of disdain, and. dissatisfaction this court seems to have. against the defense. One example, a. filing accuses the judge of mocking. Rose's diagnosis by making air quotes, writing, quote, "This court has made. undermining and overall disparaging. comments about Derek Rose's medical. history and condition, specifically his. mental health." In part, gesturing air. quotation marks when referring to Rose's. autism diagnosis. And it also points to.

comments the judge allegedly made in. open court, saying, "Judge Hirs has. openly expressed that this isn't a who. done it case." These comments have been. made in open court as well as privately. These are inappropriate conclusory. remarks regarding Rose's guilt in this. case. And the filing closes with a. pointed rebuke of Hersh's conduct. Quote, "This motion is filed based on, amongst other factors listed above, this. court's clear indications that he has. already concluded that Derek Rosa is.

guilty of murdering his mother. And this. isn't a who done it case. This court has. exhibited as recently as August 27th, 2025 numerous instances which display. his inability to rule impartially in. this case. As a result of the above. referenced actions, a reasonably prudent. person would be in fear of not receiving. a fair and impartial trial in front of. this court. Caseia, do they have a. point? >> Jesse, these comments are very. concerning. And if these are in fact. true, I'm pretty sure that the defense. has objective evidence to back it up.

Also, there's other avenues that they. can take because if the judge's behavior. is as egregious as the allegations, they. can also report the judge to the. judicial qualifications commission. because if he is not only not being fair. and impartial, but mocking the defendant. in this case and being disrespectful to. council, judges are held to a high. standard as well. So this is very. concerning for the court because we want. to make sure that even if it's beyond. obvious, even if it's a slam dunk for. the prosecution, the client, the.

defendants are entitled to not only a. fair and impartial judge, but due. process. And it's impossible to have due. process if these comments are backed up. by a transcript or the court reporter. capturing what the defense is alleging. So, it's very concerning and I'm curious. as to how the ruling would be. >> What could be a counterargument for the. judge here? You know, I'm being. misunderstood. It's my courtroom. I'm. allowed to use certain language that I. want. I made comments outside the. presence of the jury. Um, it's not.

reflecting how I feel about the case. I. mean, are those common arguments? I. mean, what what are things judges can. say to defend this alleged behavior? >> Well, first and foremost, they can just. do a blanket denial of the order. deny. um the order. >> Um. >> but there is a trial transcript. There's. a transcript on the record. >> There is a transcript, but also the. transcript doesn't take into account. body language. It doesn't take into. account how the words are being. displayed from the court. There's always. an explanation, right? He could have. been making the air quotes around autism.

because he never received the official. report and maybe this would have just. been self-serving words from the. defense. We don't know. So, it's open to. interpretation, but as a judge, you. don't want to leave that line of being. um unfair and not providing due process. to a defendant. >> Someone might listen to this and say, "Wait, wait a second. I I don't care how. the judges behave." Is, you know, how is. that going to affect the jury? The jury. is the one that ultimately determines. whether or not somebody is guilty or. not, unless it was a bench trial. Why.

should I care how the judge is behaving? What's your answer to that? It's very. important because although the judge is. not in going to determine guilt or. innocence or in this case whether or not. Mr. Roser is guilty or not guilty, the. judge is there for every stage of the. proceedings. So he is the one that will. make the determination as to whether or. not an objection is overruled or. sustained. His body language can show. favoritism or whether or not he's. partial to one side or or the other. So. this is very important. And also, if he. is found guilty, the judge is the.

ultimate person that is responsible for. the sentence. And although he's been. charged with a first-degree murder, typically lesser included offenses are. included in the jury instructions. In. Florida, first-degree murder is life. until you die. But if there's less. included, let's say manslaughter, the. judge has that determination to sentence. him to the highest possible sentence. So, we want to make sure that the judge. is fair. And if he's making these. remarks and they are truly memorialized. on the transcript, that is very.

concerning. >> And if you are making this motion and. you are accusing the judge of being. biased and that is denied and let's say. another court doesn't pick it up and. that stays, isn't this awkward now going. to trial with the judge? Do you have to do defense attorneys have. to change their perception? I mean, do. they have to change their strategy a. bit? How do they deal with a judge that. they just accused of, you know, being. biased and want to kicked off the case? >> Which is why when you're filing these.

motions, you better have a good faith. basis to do so. And like I said, I've. done them before. They've been denied. Some have been granted. And you go right. before the judge is professionalism. As. attorneys, we take an oath of office, and you're not supposed to take anything. personal. And if you want the judge to. uphold the rule of law, sometimes you. will be denied. Sometimes your motion. will be granted. But professionalism is. key. I give the judge the same. professionalism, the same respect in. this court and you just work. You do. your job. It's not uncomfortable because. this is our job. We fight zealous.

zealously for our clients and we also. make sure that we are keeping that line. of communication and professionalism. open. >> Have you in your experience, you don't, please don't name names. Have you seen. situations where you've had uh a motion. denied and the judge in your opinion. acted a little bit more unfavorably to. towards you or your client after that, you know, that motion? You could feel. it. >> I mean, personally, I've experienced. both ends of the spectrum. Typically, I.

usually have a judge who will respect. the fight uh upholding the constitution. and then sometimes I have a judge who is. offended that you even challenge the. judge. And again, they have to. understand that there's checks and. balances in the judicial system as well. And all we're doing is making sure that. our clients constitutional rights are. protected. It's not uncomfortable to me. because as long as I know the law and. case laws on my side, that sets the the. legal precedent. You're we're doing our. job. It's difficult, but it's our job.

>> And look, somebody might be listening to. this and saying, "This guy's accused of. killing his mother. Why should I care if. the judge is, you know, mean him or. biased against him?" But no matter who. the criminal defendant is, they do have. a right. They do have constitutional. rights, particularly to a fair trial. And I will say for the cases that look. the most egregious and where the. evidence looks overwhelming that the. person did it, you want to make sure. that there were no problems during that. trial process because a conviction can. be overturned and then you start from. ground zero and that's not great. Now, I. will say what happened here. September.

15th, Judge Hirs issued a ruling. Despite the laundry list of accusations, he is not stepping down. His reasoning. was simple. the defense motion was. legally insufficient. In other words, the claims, I guess even if assumed. true, they don't meet that strict legal. bar that requires a judge to recuse. himself. Casey, I guess that's what. we're talking about. >> Absolutely. I mean, if the defense feels. like they have credible evidence and. they feel like it was beyond egregious, again, they can report the judge to the.

judicial qualifications commission or. they can appeal to the higher court. there's always a legal remedy or they. can continue to take note of the pattern. of the judge because if he was that. egregious before either he's going to. continue his pattern or he's going to be. mindful of it to make sure that anything. he's doing or anything that he's saying. will not come across as being unfair on. behalf of the defendant. >> Could the defense use this this ruling. later on as grounds for an appeal if.

Rosa is convicted? Well, any of the judge's behavior during. the trial and that's when the jury has. been sworn and impanled. So, if they. have new evidence that he was not given. a fair trial due to the behavior of the. judge during the trial, then of course. they can always file a motion for a new. trial and cite that. But bringing in. pre-trial motion behavior from the judge. for something that did not happen in the. presence of the jury would not be. sufficient legal basis to grant a motion. for a new trial. >> Could they bring another motion later on.

during the course of the trial? like you. said, they discover what they believe or. new violations, new evidence of bias. >> Of course, I if they feel that the the. judge's behavior, especially after the. trial has started, that it's too. egregious and they can file that motion. But typically, that would be a great. basis for a motion for a new trial. Once. that jury panel is sworn in, >> then all of that creates greater. ammunition for the higher court to make. a determination as to whether his due. process was violated and was it.

sufficient enough to have a new trial. >> So now Rose's case moves forward under. the same judge that his attorneys tried. to push out. By all accounts, it seems. that Rose is still being held without. bond at the Metro West Detention Center. waiting trial for the murder of his. mother. The defense may appeal this. ruling. Judge Hers may not be going. anywhere. The trial is expected 2026. But Caseia, you told us you were. actually there. Uh you didn't realize. that this case was going on. There was. another bid by the defense, right? They.

were trying to get him out of that. facility. >> Absolutely. So, uh Rosa has a growing. amount of supporters, not just his. family. There were strangers there. They. had t-shirts on in support of Rosa. Basically, they want him transferred out. of the Metro West Detention Center into. the juvenile facility. They're claiming. that he's being held in solitary. confinement. This is a high-profile. case, very serious charge. And the judge. asked for a log of how many hours since. the time that he's been in custody up. until the next court hear her hearing or.

the amount of hours he has been out of. his cell. Typically with solitary. confinement, you're in your jail cell 23. hours out of the day. You're removed. from general population. The issue with. that is he's still a juvenile, but this. is a grand jury indictment. So if he is. convicted, he does not fall under the. juvenile division which the maximum. punishment for the department of. juvenile justice is up to the age of 21. He is looking at adult punishment. This. is not for rehabilitation. This is. strictly for punishment. So it doesn't.

make sense in the grander scheme of. things to take him out of the adult. facility based on the seriousness of the. charges and put him with other. juveniles. So, I do believe that the. judge may not grant that, but it remains. to be seen. >> Yep. This Derrick Rosa story is far from. over. I'll tell you that much. Caseia. Early, thank you so much for coming on. Appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you.

should get your podcasts. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. [Music].