A Broward judge has decided to move forward with a “Stand Your Ground” hearing for one of the Miami-Dade officers charged in a deadly 2019 police shootout in Miramar that killed a UPS driver and another man.
On Dec. 5 of that year, Ronnie Jerome Hill and Lamar Alexander, who police say robbed a jewelry store in Coral Gables, took UPS driver Frank Ordonez hostage as they made their escape. A high-speed police chase of Ordonez’s work truck ended on Miramar Parkway, near Flamingo Road, when it ran into heavy traffic. Officers then surrounded the truck and a barrage of gunfire erupted.
Hill and Alexander were killed. Ordonez and a bystander, Richard Cutshaw, also died.
Miami-Dade officer claims Stand Your Ground defense
Miami-Dade Police Officers Leslie Lee, Jose Mateo, Rodolfo Mirabal and Richard Santiesteban were charged last year with manslaughter for their roles in the shootout.
Last week, an attorney for Mateo appeared in court, where he argued that the state’s Stand Your Ground Law applies and the manslaughter charge should be dismissed.
The state countered that it didn’t apply because the victims, Ordonez and Cutshaw, weren’t in a direct confrontation with police.
On Monday, the judge ruled in favor of Mateo.
“This Court finds that the Defendant has presented a prima facie claim and the burden has shifted to the State to meet its standard at the previously scheduled SYG Hearing,” Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra, Jr. wrote in his preliminary order.
If Mateo prevails at the Stand Your Ground hearing, the charge against him will be dismissed.
