FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tuesday was the second day of a ‘stand your ground’ hearing for three Miami-Dade police officers charged in a deadly 2019 shootout.
The hearing began with testimony from an investigator who replayed video from the scene where everything began that day, when two armed men robbed a Coral Gables jewelry store in 2019.
That footage was followed by chopper video and audio from the cross-county chase that ensued after the suspects carjacked a UPS truck with the driver still inside.
The police chase ended in a shootout between the suspects and officers on Miramar Parkway after heavy traffic forced the suspects to stop the truck.
As a result of the shootout, the two suspects were killed, as were two innocent men: Frank Ordonez, the UPS driver, and innocent bystander Richard Cutshaw, who was sitting in his car when the gunfire erupted.
The three co-defendants – Leslie Lee, Rodolfo Mirabal and Richard Santiesteban – and their attorneys are likely expecting a similar outcome to the September 2025 ‘stand your ground’ hearing where officer Jose Mateo, who was also charged in the same shooting, was granted immunity through ‘stand your ground’ by the same judge who is presiding over the current case.
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