Judge dismisses manslaughter charge against Miami-Dade Officer involved in 2019 shooting that killed UPS driver

A manslaughter charge has been dropped against former Miami-Dade Police Officer Jose Mateo one of the several officers indicted in shootout that led to the death of an UPS delivery driver after a judge sided with his motion to dismiss the development based on the Florida s stand your ground law The Broward County Judge Ernest Kollra handed out an order Thursday saying after applying the statutory in development law to the facts of this episode and determining the credibility of the onlookers who testified the court finds the fact in testimony to assistance the application of immunity under Florida s stand your ground law Adding the court finds that the state has not established by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant did not have reasonable belief to use deadly force and it was necessary to prevent imminent death of his own The charges stemmed from the Florida s Department of Law Enforcement saying that the bullets that hit -year-old UPS driver Frank Ordonez were fired by each of the indicted officers Civilian Richard Cutshaw was also fatally struck by the gunfire It all unfolded when investigators explained -year-old Lamar Alexander and -year-old Ronnie Jerome Hill robbed the Regent Jewelers store in Coral Gables before hijacking the UPS driven Ordonez and led police on a multi-county chase that ended near the busy intersection of Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road The trial played out in court over the program of several weeks with the prosecution and defense calling a wide array of witness to the stand including bystanders a FDLE agent and a MDSO s sergeant deputy and pilot News have reached out the State Attorney s Office and Mateo s attorney Richard Diaz for comment