Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Courthouse News Service reports:
A Florida judge on Friday rejected the “Stand Your Ground” defense of a retired police officer who must now stand trial for the fatal shooting of fellow moviegoer who angered him by texting before the main feature began. In a decision filed Friday morning, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Susan Barthle questioned the veracity of Curtis Reeves’ testimony.
“Because the defendant’s testimony was significantly at odds with the physical evidence and other witness testimony, this court has considerable doubts about his credibility, and is not willing to come to the conclusion that these circumstances are those envisioned by the legislature when the “stand your ground” law was enacted,” she wrote in the one-page order.
The decision comes after a two week hearing in which the defense extolled the 74-year-old Reeves’ decorated past with the Tampa Police Department and painted police investigators responding to the shooting as incompetent. Prosecutors argued Reeves as overreacting to a simple argument that cost the life of Chad Oulson, a 43-year-old father and husband.
On January 13, 2014, Reeves and his wife arrived at a movie theater and sat behind Oulson and his wife to watch “Lone Survivor.” During the previews, Oulson checked his phone, prompting Reeves to ask him to put it away, because the light was distracting him. The argument heated up, prompting Oulson to toss popcorn at the retired officer’s head. Reeves leaned back, took out a pistol and shot Oulson in the chest.
Reeves claims Oulson also threw his cell phone at him and “towered” over him threateningly. The judge ruled yesterday that the theater’s surveillance video shows no so actions occurred.