A Miramar retiree accused of killing a federal agent in a road-rage incident 15 years ago quietly resolved his case with a no-contest plea in exchange for 10 years of probation.
James Patrick Wonder, 80, entered his plea on Sept. 3 and was sentenced Sept. 28 on one count of manslaughter with a firearm for the 2008 slaying of Donald Pettit, an internal affairs agent with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Police and investigators described the shooting as a road-rage incident. Wonder and his lawyer described it as a clear case of self-defense.
In the end, neither viewpoint won. Excluded evidence and reluctant witnesses blocked prosecutors from presenting the case they wanted a jury to hear. Wonder’s efforts to have the case dismissed under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law were rejected by a Broward judge, a decision that was upheld by an appeals court.
But after 15 years, both sides agreed it was time to resolve the case.
Wonder, who has been in ill health since before the shooting took place, no longer faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison unless he violates the terms of his probation.
“He is not a criminal. There is no likelihood of him violating probation,” said his lawyer, Frank Maister.
For the state, the deal ensures someone is legally held accountable for Pettit’s death. The victim’s daughter, who was 12 at the time and the sole independent witness to the events leading up to the shooting, was reluctant to testify. Statements Wonder made during a “stand-your-ground” hearing in 2012 could not be used in court unless the defendant decided to take the stand at trial. Even Wonder’s arrest was successfully challenged in court, eliminating the state’s ability to use his post-arrest statement at trial.
“Set for trial the state would have been severely limited in its ability to properly present this case and overcome the defendant’s use of the ‘justifiable use of deadly force’ defense,” prosecutor Taylor Hoffman wrote in a memo explaining the plea agreement.
Coupled with Wonder’s poor health, prosecutors doubted Wonder would be sentenced to significant prison time even if he were convicted.
The shooting of Pettit sparked a manhunt that started Aug. 5, 2008, when Wonder fled the scene and ended with his arrest the following day outside a kidney dialysis center in Plantation. Wonder dyed his hair after the shooting, an act investigators pointed to as consciousness of guilt.
Wonder and the victim’s daughter agreed on the broad strokes of what led to the shooting. Wonder was driving too slowly for Pettit’s taste, according to his testimony, and the two men raised their middle fingers at each other before Wonder pulled into a post office parking lot.
Pettit followed him to “teach him a lesson,” according to his daughter’s testimony at the 2012 stand-your-ground hearing.
Wonder said he was afraid because he was physically weak and could have died if he got into a fistfight. But a medical expert testified that Pettit’s wounds were consistent with someone who was turning away and ducking as he was shot.
Through his lawyer, Wonder declined to comment this week. Efforts to contact Pettit’s wife and daughter were unsuccessful Thursday.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.