FL Man Kills Man Who Was Texting

Curtis Reeves, Jr., a retired police captain, shoots man in a movie theater. Reeves contends he felt threatened by man sitting in front of him who had been texting his babysitter.



Was this self-defense such as existed in the Zimmerman case?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/us/florida-man-is-denied-bail-in-killing-at-a-movie-theater.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140208

Advocate wrote:

Curtis Reeves, Jr., a retired police captain, shoots man in a movie theater. Reeves contends he felt threatened by man sitting in front of him who had been texting his babysitter. Was this self-defense such as existed in the Zimmerman case?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/us/florida-man-is-denied-bail-in-killing-at-a-movie-theater.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140208

It was not.

Throwing popcorn at someone is different
than slamming his head on the street.





David

OmSigDAVID wrote:

Advocate wrote:

Curtis Reeves, Jr., a retired police captain, shoots man in a movie theater. Reeves contends he felt threatened by man sitting in front of him who had been texting his babysitter. Was this self-defense such as existed in the Zimmerman case?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/us/florida-man-is-denied-bail-in-killing-at-a-movie-theater.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140208

It was not.

Throwing popcorn at someone is different
than slamming his head on the street.





David

Maybe the victim was popping corn. Reeves said that something knocked his glasses off.

Myself, I would have probably asked the guy to stop, and next tried calling management. Shooting would have been a last resort.

Myself, I would have probably asked the guy to stop, and next tried calling management. Shooting would have been a last resort.

From the report:

"The two men got into an argument after Mr. Oulson began texting
his daughter’s babysitter during previews…"

So, the movie hadn't even started. They should have followed his wife's advice and moved.

Brandon9000 wrote:

Myself, I would have probably asked the guy to stop, and next tried calling management. Shooting would have been a last resort.

Yeah, that's what I meant. First you ask the person, if they don't comply, get the management.

Uh yeah, shooting would be I think be the last resort.

'Stand your ground' decision raises prospect of new hearing in Pasco theater shooting

Tampa Bay Times
May 9, 2018

For two weeks last year, a retired Tampa police captain tried to persuade a judge that he was terrified and desperate to protect himself when he fatally shot another man in a darkened Wesley Chapel movie theater.

The judge didn't buy Curtis Reeves' argument. But now the defendant might get another chance. And this time, his attorneys would have less work to do to demonstrate that Reeves should be immune from prosecution under Florida's "stand your ground" law.

A sequel to the highly anticipated, heavily watched, epic Reeves hearing became more likely last Friday, when a three-judge panel of the Second District Court of Appeal declared that a revised version of the controversial self-defense law can apply to cases that were pending when it was passed.

"The beauty of this particular decision is it allows Mr. Reeves to have another 'stand your ground' hearing with the appropriate burden of proof," said Reeves' attorney, Richard Escobar.

Reeves, 75, is charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 13, 2014, shooting of Chad Oulson, which occurred inside the Cobb Grove 13 theaters. The two men argued over Oulson's use of a cell phone during movie previews. Oulson, 43, confronted Reeves, tossing a bag of popcorn in his face, before Reeves shot him in the chest.

The "stand your ground" law, first passed in 2005, states that a person has no duty to retreat when faced with a violent confrontation and can use deadly force if in fear of great bodily harm or death.

The Florida Supreme Court previously ruled the defense had the burden of proof in cases where the law was invoked. But that changed last spring.

As Reeves' attorneys worked to prove their claim in a Pasco County courtroom, state legislators in Tallahassee debated a new version of the "stand your ground" law, which shifted the burden of proof to the state. The law passed in May.

Judges throughout the state have differed on whether the new law can apply to cases that were pending when it passed.

At least two circuit judges in south Florida declared the change to be unconstitutional, for different reasons. Others avoided challenging the law's constitutionality, but declared that it can only apply to future cases. Still others have allowed "stand your ground" cases to go forward under the new law.

Enter Tymothy Ray Martin. In 2016, Martin was charged with felony battery after he punched his girlfriend in a McDonald's parking lot in Tampa. He claimed he did it because she threatened him with a gun in an argument.

Martin invoked "stand your ground," but a judge ruled that he failed to meet the required burden of proof. A jury later found Martin guilty.

In an appeal, his attorneys argued that the new law should apply retroactively.

The appeals court agreed. But their written opinion, issued Friday, also acknowledged widespread uncertainty on the issue, referring the question of retroactivity to the state's highest court.

"I think this was a well-reasoned opinion," said Escobar. "The prosecutors would be hard-pressed to have this opinion overturned by the Florida Supreme Court."

Whether the high court will take up the Martin case remains to be seen.

With lower courts split on the issue, the Florida Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up a question about whether a 2017 change to the state's "stand your ground" self-defense law should apply to older cases.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the 2017 law switching the burden of proof from the defense to the state in stand your ground cases is not retroactive.

The ruling means stand your ground cases across the state that stalled while awaiting clarity from the justices can now move forward. That includes the infamous 2014 Pasco County movie theater shooting, where authorities say retired Tampa police captain Curtis Reeves fatally shot Chad Oulson after he threw popcorn at the former cop in a movie theater.