FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Months after a judge tossed manslaughter charges against an officer involved in the 2019 deadly Miramar shootout, three former officers are hoping they are lucky enough to follow the same path.
At the Broward County courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, a “stand your ground” hearing was underway for Rodolfo Mirabal, Leslie Lee, and Richard Santiesteban, the three former Miami-Dade Police officers who were indicted in the death of UPS driver Frank Ordonez and bystander Richard Cutshaw.
All three are hoping the judge agrees with their argument that they fired in self-defense after two robbery suspects stole the delivery truck and kidnapped the driver in Coral Gables, leading to a police cross-county pursuit and ending in gunfire.
Broward State Attorney’s Office officials argue this law doesn’t apply in this case.
On Tuesday, aerial footage of the pursuit and subsequent shooting was viewed in the courtroom along with audio of police radio transmissions.
“You can hear two shots fired over the radio, and eventually a Miami-Dade vehicle was struck four times,” said retired Florida Department of Law Enforcement official Alex Villanueva as he sat in the witness stand.
Body camera footage shown in court captured the officers’ actions.
“Mirabal was approaching the UPS truck from the passenger side. As he approached, the shots were being fired, so he tactically put himself behind the truck,” said Villanueva.
The hearing comes months after the same judge dismissed charges against former Officer Jose Mateo back in September. During the 2025 hearing, the judge decided that Mateo acted in self-defense.
Following that decision, the family of Ordonez shared their disappointment.
“The facts were there. I’m just numb at the whole thing. I’m trying to digest my feelings and my thought process, and it comes back to disappointment,” said Joe Merino, Ordonez’s stepfather.
Mateo told 7News after his court victory that he did what he had to do and is saddened by the lives lost.
“It’s been mentally tough since I had to pull out my gun and take action,” he said. “It was unfortunate and very sad that lives were lost, innocent lives.”
This time around, the judge will decide whether the same protection applies to these other officers.
The hearing is expected to last about six more days.
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