MIAMI, Sept. 29, 2026 | A federal judge in Miami on Tuesday rejected a defense motion to throw out part of the indictment against Christian Emmanuel Sanon. Later in the day, opening statements were heard in his trial over the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, and the first witness, the slain president’s widow Martine Moïse, took the stand.

Motion to dismiss denied

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra held a brief motion hearing on Sanon’s request to dismiss the Sixth Superseding Indictment. According to the docket, the hearing lasted five minutes, and the court denied the motion for reasons stated on the record.

A written order followed the same day. It states that the motion sought dismissal of Counts 6 through 10 as barred by the statute of limitations, and that the request was denied. The order itself doesn’t explain the judge’s reasoning, and the docket text I reviewed doesn’t describe what those counts allege. Sanon’s lawyers may try to raise the issue again on appeal if he is convicted.

Trial begins

Jury selection was held on Monday, Sept. 28, and a jury was impaneled and sworn that day, according to the court record. On Tuesday, the judge gave jury instructions, opening statements were heard and testimony began. Martine Moïse was sworn in as a witness, and the court admitted exhibits during the session. Court was in session for about four and a half hours, with a Haitian Creole interpreter present. The trial resumes Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 9:00 a.m.

The docket does not summarize what Ms. Moïse said on Tuesday. She was also the government’s first witness in the earlier trial of four co-defendants, where she described being wounded in the July 7, 2021 attack.

Judge Becerra also granted a defense motion allowing an investigator to bring a laptop and cellular phone into the courthouse for the trial. Sanon’s lawyers, including Zeljka Bozanic, filed the request on Monday.

Background on the case

Sanon, a dual Haitian-American citizen and South Florida pastor, is accused by prosecutors of playing a key role in the plot that led to Moïse’s killing. Prosecutors say he recruited and gathered the group of conspirators who ultimately arranged the assassination and that he himself provided material support to a conspiracy to kidnap or kill the president.

His case was separated from the others on March 6, 2026, for health reasons, which delayed his trial. After a nearly nine-week trial, the four other defendants were found guilty in May of conspiring with former Colombian soldiers to assassinate Moïse. The government’s witness list for Sanon’s trial reportedly includes 58 people, among them cooperating witnesses already sentenced to life in prison, FBI analysts and forensic experts.

Investigators say the conspirators initially viewed Sanon as a possible successor to Moïse, but by June 2021 concluded he lacked the constitutional qualifications and sufficient popular support. They then backed Wendelle Coq Thélot, a former Haitian Superior Court judge who died in January 2025 while still a fugitive.

Reporting from the run-up to trial says the case may turn on a difficult question: how much responsibility Sanon bears for what ultimately happened to Moïse. Evidence in the first trial showed that the plan changed repeatedly and that his allies left him out of some group chats.

What to watch

  • Wednesday, Sept. 30: Testimony resumes at 9:00 a.m.
  • Oct. 13: Deadline for responses to Sanon’s motion about bringing electronic equipment into the courtroom, which the judge has already granted for the investigator.
  • Coming days: How prosecutors use their witnesses, including cooperating defendants, and how the defense responds on Sanon’s intent and knowledge.

Sanon is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Haiti Politic will continue to follow the trial.