The 71-year-old ex-police officer accused of shooting dead a man
inside a Florida movie theater won't get the chance to go home -- at
least for now -- after a judge Friday decided not to grant him bail.
Judge Pat Siracusa made
his decision after two days of wrenching, evocative, at times seemingly
contradictory testimony inside a Dade City, Florida, courtroom.
"The state did, in fact,
meet their standard," Siracusa said of prosecutors argument that Curtis
Reeves shouldn't be allowed to post bond. "And I am going to detain Mr.
Reeves, pretrial. He will remain in custody."
Reeves' lawyer signaled
his intention to appeal a decision that -- while not unexpected, given
this is a homicide case -- he believes is unwarranted. The attorney,
Richard Escobar, said that he's optimistic about not only the appeal on
bail, but that a jury of six citizens will side with his client.
"Mr. Reeves is truly an
innocent man," Escobar told reporters. "And we look forward to proving
that at a jury trial at some point."
The widow of the man that Reeves killed, meanwhile, applauded Siracusa's decision.
"I'm just very happy and relieved," Nicole Oulson said. "... I have no doubt in my mind that it was the right decision."
Was it self-defense or an overreaction?
As Siracusa took pains
to point out, his opting not to grant bail has nothing to do with his or
others assessment of Reeves' guilt or innocence. That won't happen
until trial.
The date for that hasn't been set, though Siracusa did schedule the next pretrial hearing for March 12.
That falls on one day
under two full months since Chad Oulson was shot dead inside the Grove
16 theater in the Tampa suburb of Wesley Chapel.
Was the younger, more
physically imposing Oulson killed in self-defense, as Reeves' lawyer
claims? Or did Reeves overreact -- to the idea that Oulson was texting
his toddler daughter as movie previews played -- by taking out his gun
inside the theater and firing, as the prosecution argues?
The bail hearing, which began Wednesday and resumed Friday after a day off, served almost as a mini-trial in itself.
Both sides called witnesses, then often strongly challenged those put on the stand by the other side.
Reeves' daughter,
Jennifer Shaw, testified that her father was supportive and even-keeled,
having never erupted in anger at a stranger from her recollection.
The prosecution called a number of people who'd been in the Florida theater the afternoon of January 13.
Charles Cummings talked
about overhearing Reeves and Oulson talking, and at one point, the
latter said, "I'm just texting my 2-year-old daughter." Soon after that,
a "very agitated" Reeves left the theater, then returned a few minutes
later.
At that point, a fairly
calm Oulson -- according to Mark Douglas Turner, a retired Air Force
veteran who worked as a clandestine officer -- asked aloud whether he
could check a voice mail from his daughter's babysitter.
The situation devolved
after more words were exchanged. Alan Hamilton, an off-duty Sumter
County sheriff's corporal, said he heard Oulson say, "I am trying to
text my f**king daughter, if you don't mind" -- using graphic language
that Reeves' lawyer said suggested Oulson was angry and threatening.
Popcorn flew in Reeves' direction soon thereafter.
"And almost immediately," recalled Turner, who said Oulson threw the bag, "the gun comes out and there are shots fired."
Reeves to police: Oulson 'scared the crap out of me'
Hamilton testified that, soon thereafter, Reeves' wife told her husband "that was no cause to shoot anyone."
Reeves responded by
pointing his finger at her and saying, according to Hamilton, "You shut
your f**king mouth and don't say another word."
On Friday, those in the
Dade City courtroom got to hear from Reeves himself -- not because he
took the stand, but because audio of his interview with police was
played in court.
During that interview,
Reeves told police he had "reason to believe (Oulson) was going to kick
my ass" after Reeves confronted the 43-year-old Navy veteran over his
texting during the previews to "Lone Survivor."
Reeves and his wife both
told police that Oulson began using foul language, and Reeves left to
talk to a theater manager. When he returned, Oulson stood up and turned
to confront Reeves, he said.
"I see that he's very explosive, unnecessarily," Reeves told police. "It scared the crap out of me."
Oulson edged toward
Reeves -- and "he's virtually on top of me" -- and Reeves told him
either "no, no, no" or "whoa, whoa, whoa," he couldn't remember which,
he told the police interrogator.
"He hit me with
something. I assume it was his fist," Reeves told police. "I think he
had a cell phone in his hand because I saw the blur of the screen. ...
My face went sideways. My glasses came partially off."
In her own interview
with police, Vivian Reeves backed much of her husband's story, spelling
out the f-word for police as she described Oulson's language during the
altercation.
Asked, though, whether
she saw Chad Oulson strike Curtis Reeves, she replied no -- though she
said it's what her husband told her after the shooting.
The same went for the
various theater witnesses who testified earlier for the prosecution.
None of whom said that they saw Reeves getting hit by anything beyond
perhaps a bag or some kernels of popcorn before he opened fire.
Surveillance video captures theater shooting
Beyond hearing from
various witnesses, the public -- thanks to the gathered media -- got
their own glimpse of what happened inside that movie theater, thanks to
surveillance video.
The jumpy, grainy
footage shows Reeves return to his seat at 1:26:19 p.m., according to
the video's time stamp. Six seconds later, Reeves appears to lean
forward, but only for a second.
At 1:26:30 p.m., the
video stops -- likely because the motion sensors weren't activated,
according to previous testimony in Reeves' bail hearing this week -- but
it starts recording again five seconds later.
That's when a hand
extends in front of Reeves, from the seat where victim Chad Oulson was
reportedly sitting, and appears to snatch something from Reeves -- the
defense has repeatedly said Oulson threw popcorn -- and throws it into
Reeves' face.
Reeves' right hand, the
one Reeves told police he used to shoot Oulson, thrusts forward at
1:26:37 p.m. A strange dust falls in front of the surveillance video
lens as theater patrons begin walking over to the area where Reeves
remains seated.
It's the row behind
where a mortally wounded Oulson -- after stumbling then collapsing on
another moviegoer -- is taking his last breaths.
