Felony charges including attempted murder and kidnapping have been dropped against a Miami plastic surgeon who police arrested earlier this year for allegedly holding his ex-girlfriend captive and beating her for several hours, an official said.
Dr. Orlando Llorente, 41, had also faced felony charges of false imprisonment, tampering with a witness and strongarm robbery and a misdemeanor of criminal mischief in the April incident, according to online Miami-Dade court records.
But prosecutors have decided to consolidate the charges against Llorente into a misdemeanor criminal case, according to Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office spokesman Ed Griffith. Now he faces two counts of battery, court records said.
“After a thorough review of all of the evidence (as is done in all cases filed in our domestic violence division), it was determined that the available evidence merited criminal misdemeanor charges rather than the previously filed felony charges,” Griffith said in an email.
The changes were officially made Thursday, court records said.
Miami Police said earlier this year that Llorente became angry over a message he saw on his ex-girlfriend’s Facebook page. He allegedly grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into a bathroom, forcing her head into a toilet and banging her head against the floor.
He held her captive for 12 to 16 hours, during which time the woman suffered visible signs of trauma to her head and face, a Miami Police arrest affidavit said.
Lllorente wouldn’t let her use her phone during that time, and after he drove the woman to a CVS in Pinecrest, he ultimately smashed the phone on the ground and stomped on it until it was in pieces, according to the affidavit. When Pinecrest Police arrived at the scene, Llorente wasn’t there, the affidavit said.
Defense attorney Marcos Beaton disputed the charges against Llorente earlier this year.
"I don't see anything within the narrative that suggests that Dr. Llorente prevented the alleged victim from leaving, either by threat, by force or by implication of force," Beaton said when Llorente made his first court appearance in May.
Beaton could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.
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