Wander Franco trial reset for June 2; key witnesses missing

The trial of  Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who is due to  stand trial on charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation against a minor and human trafficking that could result in a sentence of up to 20 years, was postponed on Thursday until June 2, 2025 after a judge in the Dominican Republic ruled that key witnesses were not located in time to meet the originally scheduled Dec. 12 date. 

Of the 36 witnesses scheduled to testify, only three were present in the courtroom in Puerto Plata on Thursday.

Dominican judge Yacaira Veras postponed the hearing at the request of prosecutors. Franco's lawyers asked the court to reconsider the postponement, arguing Franco must report to spring training in mid-February.

"There is no case against Wander, for as many witnesses as they present, there is no case now," Franco's lead lawyer Teodosio Jáquez told The Associated Press after the hearing.

The judge replied that Franco is obligated to continue with the trial schedule and his conditional release from detainment.

The 23-year-old shortstop said that his career is not over yet, that he wants justice to be done and that "everything is in God's hands."

Franco was a little upset when reporters ask him if his MLB career was over.

"I did not had a career," he said implying that he still has it. "This is not over."

Franco, who was present in the courtroom to hear the news of the rescheduled trial, was placed on indefinite administrative leave from Major League Baseball on Aug. 22, 2023 in the midst of his third season. He was added to MLB's restricted list in July of 2024, sources had told ESPN, after prosecutors in the Dominican Republic accused him of having a sexual relationship with a then-14-year-old girl.

Documents that prosecutors presented to the judge in July and were viewed by The Associated Press alleged that Franco, through his mother Yudelka Aybar, transferred 1 million pesos (about $17,000) to the mother of the minor on Jan. 5, 2023, to consent to the abuse. The mother of the minor has been charged with money laundering and is under house arrest.

Prosecutors say the minor's mother went from being a bank employee to leading an ostentatious life and acquiring assets using the funds she received from Franco. Prosecutors say $68,500 and $35,000 were found during raids on the house of the minor's mother, which prosecutors allege Franco delivered.

Franco is also under an MLB investigation based on its domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy until the case is resolved.

The new court date for Franco and the mother of the girl now extends three years past the time that an investigation was opened in 2022. The case will be heard by a panel of three or five judges.

Franco is also facing charges of illegal use and possession of a firearm related to his arrest in an armed altercation in the Dominican Republic countryside last month. No court date has yet been set for his arraignment in that case. Prosecutors said a Glock with its magazine and 15 rounds of ammunition but no registration papers was found in Franco's black Mercedes-Benz at the time of the altercation.

The Rays gave Franco an 11-year, $182 million extension in 2021, just 70 games into his major league career.

He made the All-Star team for the first time in 2023.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.