Editorial: Shaking My Head Over Ukraine, Curtis Reeves & The Loss Of A Friend

Gary Nager Editorial

The events of the past few weeks have really left me shaking my head. While I still was able to enjoy the Winter Olympics, the political overtones and the disgrace of the Russian figure skater who was allowed to compete, despite testing positive for a banned substance a couple of months earlier, definitely put a damper on the festivities for me — even though it didn’t keep me from watching many hours of the Beijing Games.

But, speaking of Russia, the situation in the Ukraine is just horrifying and definitely has me fearful for the world my young grandchildren will inherit. As of the date of this editorial, the undeclared war in Ukraine appeared to not be going as planned for Russia and its President Vladimir Putin and, while it’s impressive how well the Ukrainians have done at defending their homeland and their young democracy, Putin’s obvious instability has made the threat of what might still be to come in eastern Europe even scarier.

I don’t know how the war for Ukraine will turn out — it might even be over, I suppose, before this issue reaches your mailbox — but seeing how the world has supported the Ukrainians willing to fight for their freedom reminded me again how lucky we are to live in what is still the greatest democracy in the world, despite our own issues here at home.

I pray for a reasonable resolution for the people of Ukraine and for all of us, but I am more fearful than I ever have been for the safety of this world.

Meanwhile, In Dade City    

Speaking of shaking my head, I honestly can’t believe that 79-year-old Curtis Reeves was acquitted of all charges after shooting and killing 43-year-old Chad Oulson eight years ago in what was then known as the Grove 16 movie theater in Wesley Chapel.

Curtis Reeves

I couldn’t understand how the trial didn’t come to pass for eight long years. I thought our criminal justice system was supposed to guarantee the “right to a speedy trial,” but Reeves’ defense team basically engineered the delays — all with their client on house arrest, instead of being held in a jail cell as he waited — apparently to great effect.

I have many problems with Reeves’ acquittal, especially through the eyes of a father. I can only imagine my son Jake texting with my grandson’s babysitter during the previews of a movie and being told to turn off his mobile phone by a gruff elderly man and, if he didn’t do so right away, having the man return from a trip to the theater manager’s office to engage my son again. I don’t think Jake would throw the man’s popcorn at him, but I could see him getting angry enough to at least get in the man’s face (he is his father’s son, after all). What I can’t imagine is him being shot and killed because some guy in a movie theater didn’t like the way he was being spoken to or treated. 

And please, don’t get me started about whether or not Oulson threw his cell phone at Reeves. Not one witness corroborated that testimony, nor was there any video evidence of it, and honestly, who throws their $1,000 phone at anyone for any reason? Reeves clearly made up an excuse to shoot Oulson, and then gave his “I’m an old man who feared for his life” excuse that somehow played on the minds and feelings of the six jurors enough for them to acquit him of all charges — but after only 3-1/2 hours of deliberations?

I don’t believe for a second that Reeves — the former Tampa Police Captain who surely faced significantly worse situations without shooting those who were mean to him — feared at all for his life. He didn’t like being told to get out of a younger man’s face and clearly shot him without due provocation.

In my opinion, Reeves should be spending the rest of his life in prison for destroying a young family, but now, my fear is that others will be emboldened enough by this sham of a jury decision to take the same action — and also get away with it. 

Score one for the bad guys.

But, Speaking Of Good Guys…  

Speaking of fathers, I was moved to tears by the news that Christoph “Chris” Trina (photo), age 58, passed away after a heart attack and multiple strokes while on vacation with his family in Wisconsin. I reconnected with Chris as I became acquainted with his daughter Danielle Henry, the owner of The Bean Bar Co. in Tampa Palms, who has since become an advertiser of ours.

What I didn’t remember, without Chris reminding me, was that he also had advertised with us about 20 years ago, when he co-owned KMD Modeling in Tampa Palms. He always said such nice things about me and the Neighborhood News and I know that Danielle and her brother Kyle and their entire family are still suffering the after-effects of this sudden — and devastating loss.

“He raised us as a single dad for 12 years and he literally didn’t put up with any nonsense,” Danielle says. “We’re successful at a young age because he knows he didn’t let us do any less than our best.”

Chris was a passionate sports coach and cheerleader for his family and was loved by many — a wonderful man taken too soon. 

R.I.P., Bubba. 

Judge Rules Reeves Can Not Use ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense

Curtis Reeves said he believed he was in a “life-or-death struggle” with Chad Oulson before killing him on Jan. 13, 2014, at the Cobb Grove 16 Cinemas.

Curtis Reeves will face second-degree murder charges for the shooting death of Chad Oulson at the Cobb Grove 16 Cinemas in Wesley Chapel after Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Susan Barthle ruled March 10 that the controversial “stand your ground” defense did not apply in his case.

Reeves, a 74-year-old retired Tampa Police Captain, and Oulson, who was 43 when he died, had an altercation at the cinemas prior to the showing of the movie “Lone Survivor” on Jan. 13, 2014.

Reeves claimed he feared for his life and that Oulson was aggressive towards him after Reeves asked him to stop texting during the movie previews. Reeves claimed Oulson punched or threw a cell phone at him, and that he had no choice but to shoot.

Oulson was shot in the chest and died at the scene. 

Reeves’ attorney, Richard Escobar, invoked the “stand your ground” defense, which says a person does not have to retreat when confronted and can use deadly force if they feel they are in danger of bodily harm or death. If “stand your ground” is permitted by the judge, the accused does not have to stand trial.

But, a two-week-long hearing (Feb. 20-March 3) failed to convince Judge Barthle that it was applicable.

“After careful consideration of all of the evidence provided in this case, this court finds that the defendant did not credibly demonstrate that he reasonably believed it was necessary for him to use deadly force in this situation, therefore, defendant’s motion is DENIED,” Judge Barthle wrote.

Reeves’ defense hinged on his account of being attacked by Oulson and in fear for his life. According to Reeves, Oulson, who was sitting one row in front of him, was coming over the seat to attack him and practically on top of him when he pulled the trigger.

“The defendant testified…that he was grabbing the alleged victim’s chest or body with his left hand while he fired the fatal shot with his right hand, and even stated that he was surprised he did not shoot himself in the hand while doing so: The video evidence and other witness testimony contradicts this assertion also,’’ Judge Barthle’s order stated.

The closest Oulson came to Reeves is when he grabbed Reeves’ bag of popcorn and threw it at him.

“The video then shows the defendant lunge forward with his right arm extended, and fire at the alleged victim, who at that point was so far back from the defendant that he could not even be seen in the video anymore,’’ Judge Barthle concluded. “He certainly was not on top of the defendant, and plainly, the defendant’s left hand was nowhere near the alleged victim’s body.”

Reeves, who is 6 feet, 4 inches tall, was portrayed by the defense as old, frail and fearful for his life, but the judge concluded that he was anything but that fearful victim.

“He is quite a large and robust man,’’ she wrote. “He also appeared quite self-assured when he was testifying, and certainly did not appear to be a man who was afraid of anyone.”

Reeves testified for six hours during the hearing on Feb. 28, claiming that he politely asked Oulson to stop using his cell phone as the previews began.

Oulson swore at him, Reeves said. He said that Oulson’s wife Nicole was talking to him.

“I felt like he would ultimately comply,’’ Reeves testified.

Reeves also said that when Chad Oulson returned to his phone, he told him he was going to the cinema manager to complain. When Reeves returned from talking to the manager, he said he noticed the phone was off, and said he apologized to Oulson for involving cinema management.

That contradicted Nicole Oulson’s testimony of Feb. 23, when she claimed that Reeves was anything but polite in asking her husband to turn off his phone, calling it more of an “order” than a request.

And, she said, when he returned after talking to management, Reeves did not apologize, but rather goaded her husband.

“I see that you put the phone away now that I went to get management,’’ she testified that Reeves said to her husband. “It was not a polite, ‘Oh, thank you for putting it away’…It was to keep nagging at Chad…to keep the argument going.”

According to Reeves, a few seconds later, Chad Oulson stood and confronted him, as Nicole tried to restrain him.

“When I looked up, he was coming over the seat at me, across from where my wife was,” Reeves said. “I saw just a snapshot of something dark in his hand. Almost immediately, I saw what I perceived to be a glow from a light screen right in front of my face, and I was hit in the face.”

Reeves claimed the blow almost knocked the glasses off his face.

At that point, he testified that he began to fear for his life. “I realized I was in a life-or-death struggle,” he said.

Witness Mark Turner, a retired U.S. Air Force officer who was sitting a few seats down from Reeves, said he heard Reeves say something like, “Throw popcorn in my face” almost simultaneously with the shot being fired.

Two other witnesses sitting nearby in the theater, also testified that they heard Reeves make the popcorn comment. Another witness to the shooting,  Derek Friedhoff, said the popcorn comment was prefaced by “show you.”

Sumter County Sheriff’s Sgt. Alan Hamilton, who was off duty that day but taking in a movie, delivered what was some of the most damaging testimony to Reeves on Mar. 1.

Sgt. Hamilton testified that he saw the popcorn fly, followed almost immediately by the flash of the gun. He moved to where the shot came from, and said he heard Curtis Reeves’ wife Vivian say, “That was no cause to shoot that man.”

He then claimed Reeves scolded his wife.

“He pointed his finger at her and told her to shut her mouth and to not say another f-ing word,’’ Hamilton recalled.

Hamilton said he identified himself as a deputy and took the pistol Reeves had shot Oulson with away from the suspect.

Hamilton also testified that while he was keeping an eye on the altercation, he did not see Oulson climb over a seat to get at Reeves, as Reeves testified, or throw a cell phone or a punch at him.

“Common sense and the credible testimony of the medical examiner casts grave doubt on the likelihood of anything hitting the defendant in the eye beneath his glasses in the manner the defendant described,’’ the judge wrote. “Which begs the question, why did the defendant say he was hit. in the left eye  to the point of being dazed, when the video images and basic physics indicate that he did not get hit in the left eye with anything? The logical conclusion is that he was trying to justify his actions after the fact.”

In audio recordings of Reeves’ being interviewed the day of the shooting, Reeves can be heard saying what he had done was “stupid.”

“If I had it to do over again, it would never have happened,” he said. “We would have moved. But, you don’t get do-overs.”

Grove Theatre Shooter Appeals For Bail

More than two months after a circuit judge denied him bail for shooting a man to death in a Wesley Chapel movie theater, Curtis J. Reeves, Jr., is taking his case to an appeals court.

According to court records, Reeves’ attorney Frances Martinez filed a Criminal Habeas Corpus Petition in the Second District Court of Appeals on April 21, to release Reeves, 71, on his own recognizance or set a reasonable bond amount.

Reeves originally was denied bond on February 7 by Pasco Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa, who said that although it was not a verdict, he was not granting bail to the accused Grove 16 Theater shooter, who is charged with second degree murder and aggravated battery.

Reeves pled not guilty to the charges of the murder of Chad Oulson, 43, of Land O’Lakes, who was texting his daughter’s babysitter before a matinee showing of “Lone Survivor.” Oulson was seeing the movie with his wife, Nichole.

Reeves reportedly asked Oulson to stop texting repeatedly and even informed theater management. Surveillance video from the scene of the crime shows Oulson standing up and turning around before Reeves pulled out a .380 handgun and shot him. The bullet also grazed Nichole Oulson’s finger.

Reeves claims that he shot Oulson in self-defense. The trial is begins on July 9.