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Judge Grants Bond For Teen Accused Of Killing Rabbi

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A judge has granted bond to a teen accused of murdering a rabbi back in 2014.

Judge Jason Bloch granted Deandre Charles a $300,000 bond on Wednesday.

In granting bond, Judge Bloch wrote:

"In this case the state has presented no direct evidence of the defendant's guilt. No witness has identified the defendant as the shooter.  And indeed there are no witnesses to the shooting at all. The murder weapons has not been found. While gun accessories or 'pieces' were recovered from the scene, the defendant's fingerprints were not found on them, nor was his unique DNA profile."

Following the issuance of the written ruling on Wednesday, Charles' attorney Adam Goodman said "we are pleased with the ruling, and will continue to fight the allegations."

Goodman says Charles will not be released on Wednesday evening and is expected in court on Thursday. Once he gets out, he'll be under house arrest and be under GPS monitor.

Charles is accused of killing Rabbi Joseph Raskin who was walking to a synagogue in August of 2014.

When Charles was arrested it was announced that DNA played a big part in nabbing the suspect.

Judge Bloch heard earlier this month during Charles' Arthur hearing that three sets of DNA were found on the door handle of a car involved in the case – Raskin's DNA, the DNA from the suspect and DNA from a third person.

Rabbi Joseph Raksin
Rabbi Joseph Raksin (Source: Yona Lunger)

What he heard was that the DNA associated with the suspect and the victim could also fit about one-third of the population.

"One-third of the population was the type that is present on the handle and the defendant shared the type that is within one-third of the population," said Dr. Kevin McElfresh, a DNA expert at Florida International University back on March 7th.

The prosecution also has an eyewitness and cellphone evidence.

The defense team was putting up doubt during the hearing.

"I think in this case they just do not have enough. They have a weak eyewitness that was tainted and the DNA does not say anything," said Goodman back on March 7th.

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