Miami-Dade Police Officer Jose Mateo had every right to open fire during a 2019 shootout with two men who kidnapped a UPS driver and drove him to a busy Miramar intersection, Mateo’s lawyer argued Friday, and he should not be held criminally responsible for the deaths of two innocent victims.
Mateo is raising what lawyers agreed is a novel application of the state’s law blocking prosecutions in certain self-defense cases — he’s asking Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra to find that he is entitled to immunity even though the people who died are not the people against whom he was standing his ground.
Florida’s Stand Your Ground law was intended to protect potential victims who use force, including deadly force, to protect themselves or others from someone who poses an imminent threat. But Mateo is one of four Miami officers charged with manslaughter for killing two men who were not responsible for the standoff — Frank Ordonez, the kidnapped UPS driver, and Richard Cutshaw, 70, a bystander shot by a stray bullet.
In arguments before Kollra, prosecutor Chuck Morton said Mateo (and by extension fellow officers Rodolfo Mirabal, Richard Santiesteban, and Leslie Lee, who did not file similar motions) were not entitled to invoke the Stand Your Gound law because he is not accused of killing the people who were threatening his life or the lives of others.
“Stand your ground does not transfer to unintended victims,” he said.
No charges were filed in connection with the deaths of Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill, the two men who kidnapped Ordonez after robbing a Coral Gables jewelry store. Both died in the same shootout.
Defense lawyer Richard Diaz said Kollra’s decision, when it comes down, is unlikely to be the last word on the subject.
“This will be decided by an appeals court,” Diaz said.
Kollra said he intends to rule Monday on whether the Stand Your Ground law can be invoked in connection with the death of an unintended victim. He also told both sides to be ready for trial on Wednesday.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.
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