A Florida jury exonerated a former SWAT commander who fatally shot another moviegoer after an altercation about smartphone use.
As reported by several media sites, the trial’s six-person jury began deliberations on Friday and rendered its decision late that same night.
After an altercation at a suburban movie theatre on January 13, 2014, 79-year-old retired Tampa police Capt. Curtis Reeves was charged with second-degree murder for the death of Chad Oulson.
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Retired Swat Commander Acquitted in Fatal Shooting of Moviegoer
In his closing statements, defence attorney Richard Escobar claimed that Reeves, then 71 years old, had a reasonable fear for his life because Oulson, then 43, had turned, yelled, and reached toward him. He claimed that Reeves’s choice to fire was informed by Reeves’s nearly 30 years of experience as a law enforcement officer and his extensive training in the appropriate use of deadly force. Escobar claimed that Reeves didn’t need to be hit in the face before he could protect himself.
“He [Reeves] had more knowledge, more experience, more research in that subject than anyone in this courtroom,” Escobar added. “We live in a hostile and perilous planet.”
Prosecutor Scott Rosenwasser argued, however, that Reeves murdered Oulson because the latter had insulted his “alpha male” status by throwing popcorn in his face.
He was Completely Fearless, as Rosenwasser Put it.
Most fundamental facts are generally agreed upon. It’s possible that Reeves and Oulson have never met before. They took their spouses to a matinee showing of “Lone Survivor,” a film about the war in Afghanistan. The Reeveses sat in the last row, to the right, while the Oulsons sat in the second to last row, also to the right.
Rosenwasser, however, said that Reeves’ account was untrue. The prosecutor stated that security footage did not show Oulson tossing his cellphone and that Reeves did not have any visible injuries to his face from where he claims the phone hit him. However, the footage clearly shows Oulson snatching the popcorn bag from Reeves’s hands and then throwing it at him while Reeves fires. Witnesses stated they heard Reeves then mutter, “throw popcorn at me.”
Last Words
He disproved of Reeves’ claims that he was in mortal danger, that he was a “fragile egg” despite returning from a hunting expedition, and that Oulson was out of control. Rosenwasser claimed they were made to hide the fact that Reeves possesses a “alpha male mindset” and enjoyed the “adrenaline thrill” of law enforcement and commanding a SWAT team.
