A retired SWAT commander who was convicted for the murder of a man following an argument over using a cellphone inside a movie theatre has been acquitted by a jury in Florida.
Curtis Reeves, a retired Tampa police captain, was charged with second-degree murder for killing Chad Oulson after an argument while watching a movie on 13 January 2014.
According to prosecutor Scott Rosenwasser, Oulson was killed by Reeves because he threw popcorn in the former police officer’s face, riling him up as his self-image of an “alpha male” was violated. “He didn’t fear anything,” Mr Rosenwasser told the court.
The trial began on Friday and the verdict acquitting the SWAT commander by the six-person jury was turned in late that night.
Reeves’s attorney Richard Escobar told the court that he was made to believe by Oulson that his life was in danger. Mr Escobar told the court that Oulson turned to his client by turning, yelling and reaching toward him.
The former police officer decided to shoot Oulson based on his experience in the force, law enforcement and hours of training done to understand justified use of lethal force. The officer “had more knowledge, more experience, more study in that area than anyone in the courtroom”, the defence attorney said.
“It’s a dangerous world,” he told the court. To defend himself, Mr Reeves did not have to wait until he was hit, Mr Escobar told the court during closing arguments.
Mr Reeves and Oulson had gone to the movies with their spouses that night in January 2014 to watch Lone Survivor, a film based on war in Afghanistan.
While Mr Reeves and his wife were seated in the back row, Oulson and his wife were seated a row ahead of them, just a few seats to the right.
Despite an announcement to turn off cellphones, Oulson was texting someone, which irked Mr Reeves. Oulson was texting his 22-month-old daughter’s day care.
He then asked Oulson to stop, politely, according to him. This has been disputed by Oulson’s bereaved wife and others present at the spot, who said it sounded like a diktat.
Oulson refused to stop, provoking Mr Reeves to go to the manager. When he returned, Oulson had put the phone away.
The accounts contrast after this stage, but some reports said that Oulson took Mr Reeves’s popcorn and threw them into the former police officer’s face. Following this, Mr Reeves reportedly pulled out his .380 handgun and shot one bullet into Oulson, killing him and nearly injuring his wife, who was trying to get her husband Oulson back in his seat.
But according to the defence attorney, Oulson threw his phone at Mr Reeves, which hit him in the face and then motioned to climb over the seats to attack him.
Testifying in the court, Mr Reeves said he feared he was about to be killed when the altercation broke out and that he had never met someone so out of control in his entire career. He could not have defended himself except by shooting as he has arthritis and other physical ailments, he said.
The prosecutor told the court that Mr Reeves was lying as security videos do not show Oulson throwing his cellphone at him.
The videos of the altercation show Oulson grabbing the former police officer’s popcorn bag and tossing it at him, after which Mr Reeves fired, according to court documents.
According to witnesses, Reeves was heard muttering “throw popcorn at me”.
Calling him a physical “fragile egg”, the prosecutor said Mr Reeves’ story was all fabrications. The stories are aimed at covering up the fact that Reeves has an “alpha male mindset” who liked the adrenaline rush of being a police officer and SWAT commander, the prosecutor told the court.
“In his entire career that is the most he has ever been scared? Absolutely unreal,” he said.
