A Broward judge on Thursday dismissed the case against a Miami-Dade police officer — charged in the death of a UPS driver during a 2019 shootout at a busy intersection — citing Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
Broward Circuit Court Judge Ernest Kollra ruled in favor of suspended officer Jose Mateo, who had argued that Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law barred his prosecution. Kollra’s decision came after prosecutor Charles Morton and Mateo’s attorney Richard Diaz sparred about evidence in the case during two weeks of hearings.
Mateo, 33, and three other Miami-Dade police officers — Richard Santiesteban, 34, Leslie Lee, 58 and Rodolfo Mirabal, 40 — were indicted on manslaughter charges in June 2024. All pleaded not guilty and all have been suspended without pay…