A Miami-Dade police officer charged with manslaughter in the death of two innocent victims of a deadly shootout in Miramar can try to convince a judge that he is entitled to immunity under the state’s Stand Your Ground law, even though the victims who died were not the targets of law enforcement action, a Broward judge ruled Monday.
The ruling by Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra appears to break new ground in the often-cited law that blocks prosecutions in certain cases where the accused asserts he acted in defense of self and others.
Officer Jose Mateo is one of four men accused of manslaughter in the 2019 shooting deaths of Frand Ordoñez and Richard Cutshaw, who died as police were trying to subdue accused robbers and kidnappers Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome.
Investigators say Alexander and Jerome kidnapped Ordoñez, a UPS driver, after robbing a Coral Gables jewelry store. Alexander and Jerome were also killed in the Dec. 5, 2019 incident.
Though prosecutors disagreed with the ruling, the State Attorney’s Office issued a statement Monday acknowledging Mateo can raise Stand Your Ground as a defense at trial. Kollra is listening this week to evidence and arguments that would short-circuit a trial if he later rules Mateo was standing his ground.
Fellow Miami-Dade Officers Rodolfo Mirabal, Richard Santiesteban and Leslie Lee are also charged with manslaughter in the case. Jury selection in Mateo’s case is scheduled for the end of the Stand Your Ground hearing, which could take the bulk of this week.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com.