Three former Miami-Dade Police officers are back in a Broward County courtroom Wednesday, hoping a judge will drop manslaughter charges against them and grant them “stand your ground” immunity.
This comes after all three officers fired their weapons in a 2019 shootout with two gunmen, and two innocent people were killed.
Police body camera videos played out in court Wednesday of the shootout between Miami-Dade Police and two gunmen who hijacked a UPS truck with the driver inside in 2019.
Judge Ernest Kollra will need to decide whether the officers, Richard Santiesteban, Leslie Lee and Rodolfo Mirabal, acted in self-defense, or can be tried on manslaughter charges.
The main question in the hearing thus far has been who fired first, the two felons or the police.
Judge Kollra previously found that one of the felons, Ronnie Hill, fired at officers where the chase ended in Miramar, and then the barrage of gunfire from law enforcement followed.
Retired Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer Alex Villanueva testified that Hill fired in response to police.
“The only flash that I was able to see was the shooting already started,” Villanueva said.
“That was from inside?” Assistant State Attorney Chuck Morton asked.
“Yes, sir,” Villanueva responded.
The three officers are charged with manslaughter for the death of UPS driver Frank Ordóñez and another driver who was idling at the intersection, Richard Cutshaw.
The medical examiner who performed autopsies on the victims and the two felons killed testified to the dozens of bullets found in their bodies. Prosecutors used that testimony to touch on the use of force when speaking to the judge.
“The number of bullets that were fired by these defendants should factor into your decision as to whether or not, depending upon the circumstances, deadly force was reasonable pursuant to that statute,” said Morton.
The judge already granted Officer Jose Mateo stand your ground immunity in this case and dismissed the manslaughter charge against him.
Santiesteban, Lee and Mirabal hope for the same result.
The hearing will resume Tuesday, Feb. 10.
