BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — Jose Mateo, a suspended Miami-Dade deputy, appeared in Broward County court on Friday. His defense claimed that a manslaughter case against him over a 2019 shoot-out that killed innocent bystanders had to be dismissed.
Four men died on Dec. 5, 2019, in Miramar. Two of the men who died were not shooting at police, and two were. After an investigation involving the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a grand jury indicted Mateo and three other deputies.
Broward County Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra, who is presiding over the manslaughter case against Mateo, had questions for the defense and the prosecution.
“If someone opens fire, what are they supposed to do, let them shoot everybody without shooting back, because if they are afraid, if they hit somebody else, they’ll face charges of negligence?”
There were drivers on the road during rush hour traffic. Mateo and 19 other law enforcement officers from four agencies fired over 220 rounds in about 25 seconds.
“Every police officer has that right, but they also have a duty of public safety,” Broward County Assistant State Attorney Chuck Morton said during the hearing.
Frank Ordonez, Richard Cutshaw, Lamar Alexander, and Ronnie Hill died during the shootout. Mateo, Rodolfo Mirabal, Richard Santiesteban, and Leslie Lee faced manslaughter charges.
Mateo’s attorney wanted Kollra to consider the state’s self-defense law that eliminates a civilian’s duty to retreat when using deadly force.
“You have to be under a threat in the Stand Your Ground, correct? The statute does not say it does, and the statute does not say it doesn’t,” said Attorney Rick Diaz, who was representing Mateo.
The tragedy unfolded after a jewelry store heist in Coral Gables. Hill and Alexander, both 41, were suspects when they kidnapped Ordonez, 27, who was working for UPS.
Hill and Alexander, who were armed, used the UPS truck during the police pursuit that ended with the shoot-out in Miramar. Cutshaw, 70, was caught in the crossfire while on his way home from work.
“They are not standing their ground against the unintended victims,” Morton said about Ordonez, the kidnapping victim, and Cutshaw, an innocent bystander who was in a car.
Images of evidence in the case became public this week. Photographs showed the inside of the UPS truck. There was dry blood and tape that investigators used to show where there were bullet holes.
There were also photos showing a mask, cash, and other evidence of the initial burglary.
Mateo, Mirabal, Santiesteban, and Lee were police officers with the Miami-Dade Police Department when they fired their weapons in Miramar, according to prosecutors. With the department’s name change while the cases were pending, their titles changed from M-DPD officers to M-DCSO deputies.
The Florida Highway Patrol and the Miramar and Pembroke Pines police departments were also involved in the shooting, but they were not charged after the investigation.
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