Free Republic

The retired Florida police captain who fatally shot a man inside a movie theater in 2014 was acquitted of murder by a jury late Friday. Curtis Reeves, 79, was charged with second-degree murder after he gunned down 43-year-old Chad Oulson during a matinee screening of “Lone Survivor” in suburban Pasco County. Defense lawyers and prosecutors were in agreement that Reeves asked Oulson to stop texting during the movie previews — which started an argument that ended with the former Tampa police captain opening fire. Reeves pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defense. His lawyers successfully argued that police training...

In the interest of public access to court records and with the approval of Chief Judge J. Thomas McGrady and Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa, Nikki Alvarez-Sowles, Esq., Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller, this website was developed and will be maintained to provide electronic access to court records in State of Florida vs. Curtis J. Reeves. This site will be updated by 3:00 p.m. daily.... [This is the case of the "theater shooter" who killed a man after arging about cellphone use in a movie theater. Young veteran dad threw popcorn, old retired cop shot him to death in front of...

A lawyer on Reeves' defense team filed the petition this week asking the 2nd District Court of Appeal to allow Reeves to be released until trial on second-degree murder and aggravated battery charges. "Because (Reeves) has wrongfully been denied pretrial release, he is being illegally detained," attorney Frances Martinez wrote.Reeves, 71, has been in the Pasco County jail since Jan. 13, when authorities say he shot fellow theater patron Chad Oulson, 43, of Land O'Lakes at the Grove Cobb Theatre in Wesley Chapel.The bullet hit Oulson in the chest and grazed the left ring finger of his wife, Nicole. Authorities...