MIRAMAR, Fla. — Rodolfo Mirabal remains the only one out of four Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies whose case was on appeal after dismissal over a 2019 fatal shootout in Miramar, according to the Broward State Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.
There were two innocent bystanders dead after a shootout during backed-up rush hour traffic on Dec. 5, 2019, in Miramar. The shooters were two felons on the run who also died, and 20 in law enforcement.
Investigators found that a bullet that Mirabal fired struck Rick Cutshaw, who was in his car on Miramar Parkway when he died on his way home after work, records show. He was 70.
Five bullets that Mirabal and M-DSO deputies Jose Mateo, Richard Santiesteban, and Leslie Lee fired struck Frank Ordonez, a 27-year-old father who was working as a UPS driver when the felons took him hostage, according to investigators.
In 2024, a Broward County grand jury issued indictments charging Mirabal on two counts of manslaughter with a firearm, and charging Mateo, Santiesteban, and Lee on one count each of manslaughter with a firearm.
In 2025, Broward County Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra ruled that Mateo was “justified” in using deadly force and supported the application of immunity under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office released a statement saying, “Stand Your Ground immunity does not apply in matters involving innocent bystanders.”
In March, Kollra issued the same ruling in the cases of Santiesteban, Lee, and Mirabal.
In April, prosecutors decided that the appeals in the cases of Mateo, Santiesteban, and Lee “would be voluntarily dismissed” by the State Attorney General’s Office, according to the Broward State Attorney’s Office. The court approved the dismissals.
Local 10 News Senior Assignment Editor Frine Gomez contributed to this report.
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