New details in the case of a Seminole County man accused of murdering his mother and fleeing the state.

We’ve learned that just six days before his mother was found dead in her home near Oviedo, Joshua Ortiz served as a jury foreman on a DUI case in Seminole County.

New video from inside a courtroom is painting a different, more serene picture of 20-year-old Joshua Ortiz, the man accused of killing his own mother, Jacqueline Ortiz, and then stealing her car and driving all the way to Maryland before being arrested.

Ortiz has been described as someone with behavior and possible mental issues.

However, the state said he seemed just fine six days serving on a DUI jury before his mother was found dead in her home near Oviedo.

Judge: Do any of you have a family member or a close friend who’s ever been charged with a DUI? There we go and so Mr. Ortiz who was it?

Ortiz: My father.

Judge: How long ago?

Ortiz: This year.

Judge: Here in Seminole County?

Ortiz: Orange County.

Judge: And were you with him when he got pulled over?

Ortiz: No.

Not only was he on the jury but apparently he was the foreman of that jury, so it’s an interesting twist in a murder case that I have not seen in all my years,” shared Seminole County State Attorney’s Office Chief of Operations Attorney Chris White.

In preparation for a possible insanity plea, state prosecutors said once they made this connection they began calling local experts, but one expert told them they had already committed to Ortiz’ defense.

However, Attorney White said Ortiz’ recent jury service as foreman in a DUI case, in which the defendant was found not guilty, may be used to prove competency. 

“To me the implication would be, he was acting squared away enough  for him to be selected for the jury in the first place by the attorneys. Secondly, that there were five other jurors who apparently thought that he had his head on straight that they were willing to select him to be the foreman of their jury,” White explained.

According to the Howard County Detention Center in Maryland, Joshua Ortiz is in the process of being extradited back to Seminole County. No word on when he will make his first appearance in a Seminole County courtroom on his second degree murder charge.