By Matt Wiley
A Pasco County judge has denied bail for retired Tampa Police (TPD) Capt. Curtis Reeves, Jr., 71, who is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting Land O’Lakes resident Chad Oulson, 43, who was seated in front of him during the previews before a movie at the Cobb Theatres Grove 16 on January 13.
“This is not a verdict,” said Pasco Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa on Feb. 7 after hearing two days of arguments and testimony from witnesses in the theater. “I’m not finding anyone guilty or innocent today. I’m going to detain Mr. Reeves pretrial. He will remain in custody.”
During bond hearings on Feb. 5 and 7, Siracusa heard arguments from both assistant state attorney Manny Garcia, as well as those from Reeves’ defense, Richard Escobar, to determine whether or not to grant Reeves bail. Reeves has been in custody at the Pasco County Jail since the incident and is pleading not guilty.
Escobar clarified during closing arguments that, at this time, his client is not seeking to claim the “Stand Your Ground” law as his defense, but that Reeves was actually defending himself in the theater. He had requested bond to be set at $200,000. Garcia, meanwhile, had requested that, if bond was given, that Reeves’ passport be seized, as well as any of the suspect’s firearms that were reportedly in Reeves’ son’s possession.
Infrared video from inside the dark theatre as the shooting occurred was shown during the hearing, which depicts the argument that sparked it. Oulson can be seen throwing an object of some sort at Reeves, who then fired a single shot from his .380 handgun almost immediately after. It appears that Oulson stood up, turned around, grabbed Reeves’ popcorn and threw it at him. Reeves’ attorneys argue that the light from Oulson’s cell phone can be seen flying into Reeves and landing on the ground 13 seconds before Oulson was shot.
Several witnesses, including Charles Cummings (who sat just a few seats away from Oulson and his wife Nichole in the same row), testified that they heard Reeves mutter something along the lines of “Throw popcorn at me?,” around the time the shot was fired. Cummings said that he didn’t see any punches thrown by Oulson and that Oulson did not enter Reeves’ personal space.
During an interview with Reeves’ wife Vivian by Pasco Det. Allen Proctor that was played during the hearing, she tells Proctor that she didn’t see any punches or a cell phone thrown, but she did see Oulson act in a threatening way toward her husband. During Reeves’ interview with Proctor, he said that he thought that he was going to get beaten up by Oulson and that Oulson came over the theater seats toward him in an aggressive manner, which isn’t clear in the video.
Following Siracusa’s decision, Nichole Oulson appeared relieved as she sat with her attorney TJ Grimaldi.
Stay with NTNeighborhoodNews.com for continuing coverage of this case.
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