The lengthy case of a South Florida man accused of killing his adoptive daughter and badly abusing her twin brother has been put on hold more than 13 years following his arrest after he was found incompetent to stand trial, but not before a massive amount of money was spent on his defense.
Jorge Barahona, 56, was found incompetent to stand trial by a Miami-Dade judge at a hearing back on March 1.
Judge Andrea Wolfson made the determination after he was evaluated by three doctors, and two found him incompetent.
"The court finds that if this case were to proceed to a competency hearing, that the doctors would testify consistent with their reports, at that time the court would utilize that testimony as evidence in order to make an independent finding of competency or incompetency for Mr. Barahona," Wolfson said at the hearing. "The court in evaluating those reports is now prepared to adjudicate Mr. Barahona incompetent to proceed."
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According to a document obtained by NBC6, more than $2.4 million have been paid in court-appointed defense attorney invoices as of March 1 in the Barahona case.
The case dates back to Valentine's Day 2011, when the partially decomposed body of Barahona's daughter, 10-year-old Nubia, was found in the back of his truck on the side of a road in Palm Beach County.
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Nubia's brother Victor survived, but was badly burned after he was doused with a toxic chemical.
Jorge Barahona and his wife Carmen were both charged with first-degree murder in the death of Nubia.
Authorities said the couple abused the twins for months inside their west Miami-Dade home, keeping them locked in a bathroom for days at a time with their hands and feet bound.
The twins had originally been placed in the Barahona home under foster care, then were adopted by the couple.
Prosecutors had announced that they'd seek the death penalty against the couple, but Carmen Barahona pleaded guilty in 2020 in exchange for cooperating in the prosecution of her husband.
Jorge Barahona's trial was scheduled for April 2020, but was postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021, he cut off communications with his legal team and a judge appointed a new lawyer for him.
A 2022 NBC6 report detailed how a state commission uncovered fraudulent billing practices connected to seven Miami-Dade defense lawyers, including three who worked on the Barahona case.
The Justice Administrative Commission in Tallahassee had provided five attorneys for Barahona, three of whom withdrew from the case over the course of eight months in 2021 citing the deterioration of their relationship.
As of the 2022 report, one Barahona attorney had been paid more than $800,000, while another had been paid more than $1 million in fees.
