MIAMI (WSVN) — A man accused of attacking with intent to kill a Miami-Dade Police officer using a cinder block and the law enforcer's own car was sentenced to three counts of life in prison, Friday.
A jury inside the Miami-Dade Courthouse found Michael Robertson guilty of two charges of attempted murder, one count of burglary and one count of carjacking.
Prosecutors said, on April 2010, Robertson threw a 30-pound cinder block on top of Officer Carlos Castillo from a bridge, dragged the law enforcer's unconscious body to the middle of the road and then ran him over with his own police vehicle. Robertson then allegedly drove away in the car.
Miami-Dade County Judge Ellen Sue Venzer sentenced him shortly after the verdict was handed down. "As you dropped the block, as you drove him over, did it occur to you that he, like you, was a father, a husband, a son?" Venzer asked Robertson during the sentencing. "Clearly, it mattered not to you."
"Certainly you knew that the concrete cinder block would cause grave injury or death, but it wasn't enough to satisfy your rage," Venzer continued. "You dragged his crippled body into the streets and then you drove over him, ensuring that you inflicted as much damage as you possibly could, and then, just like that, you fled into the night, leaving him bleeding on the ground."
Venzer took special note of the fact Robertson left his family behind when he drove away from the scene. "You fled like a coward, leaving your pregnant girlfriend and young children to deal with your actions," she said. Robertson's girlfriend and sister declined to comment on the verdict as they exited the courtroom.
Before sentencing Robertson, Venzer allowed him to say a few words. The accused insisted he was framed for the crimes, and argued Venzer had no jurisdiction in sentencing him "You don't start with the jury verdict," he said. "You start with the morals to uphold the law, to serve and protect, not set up and attack."
Robertson made similar remarks when he took the stand Wednesday in his own defense, but Venzer rejected his argument and reminded him she had every right to send him to prison for the rest of his life. "You believe our laws don't apply to you," she asserted. "You believe that you are subject to your own laws, but you, sir, like all others, to live in a free society must abide by the laws that we all share."
In a news conference shortly after Venzer sentenced Robertson, Officer Castillo said he was satisfied with the jury's decision. "I'm very pleased with the verdict. I'm glad that it's over, and now I can move forward from this bad chapter in my life," he said.
Castillo, who chose not to speak to reporters at the courthouse, added the verdict reinforces his faith in the judicial system. "Everyone, obviously, deserves a fair trial, and in my opinion, everything [needed to convict Robertson] was there, and the jury made the right choice."
Robertson's attorney said he will appeal his client's conviction.
(Copyright 2013 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)