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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...

Bail was set at $150,000 for the release of Curtis Reeves, 71, accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Chad Oulson, 43 Appeals court ruled that a district judge may have made an error by failing to set bail for Reeves Reeves shot and killed Oulson at a movie theater in January after a dispute over text messaging The former police captain must stay home, wear an ankle monitor, surrender his guns and avoid contact with victim's widow 'We are flooded, we are devastated,' said lawyer representing Nicole Oulson after news of Reeves' impending release

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...

A former police officer accused of killing a man in a movie theater during a dispute over texting had used his own phone to send a message to his son minutes before the shooting, according to documents released Thursday by Florida prosecutors. Curtis Reeves' son, Matthew Reeves, told detectives that his father texted him at 1:04 p.m. Jan. 13, the documents show.... Matthew Reeves said he had walked into the dark theater while the previews were playing and looked around for his parents. It was then, investigators said, that Reeves shot 43-year-old Chad Oulson.... A judge ruled Wednesday that the...

[Live Bond Hearing -- continuation from Wednesday]

<p>A day-long hearing to decide whether accused movie theater shooter Curtis Reeves will get bond ended Wednesday without a ruling. The hearing will start again at 10 a.m. Friday ...</p> <p>The judge ruled earlier that he will allow video of the Wesley Chapel theater shooting to be played in court, and the media will be able to record it.....</p>

WESLEY CHAPEL — A court hearing will be held Tuesday on a motion by the Pasco County State Attorney’s Office seeking guidance on the release of the surveillance video that shows the January shooting death of Chad Oulson. [snip] The motion seeks clarification on three items. First: Should the video be released to the defense attorneys and, if so, should it be a copy or viewed under the supervision of the state. [snip] The video depicts the shooting of Oulson and “related acts” before and after the shooting, the motion says. [snip] The motion will be heard at 11 a.m....

Nicole Oulson told a national television audience today that she wants Curtis Reeves, the man accused of killing her husband in a Wesley Chapel movie theater, to spend the rest of his life in prison. “He brought an unfair life sentence to me to have to raise my daughter alone, to have to live without the love of my life, for my daughter to grow up without her daddy by her side for graduation and marriage,” Oulson said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It was so unnecessary, it was for no reason. So I want him behind bars and to...

On Monday, Curtis Reeves, a 71-year-old former police captain, ignored the signs posted at a Florida movie theater forbidding weapons on the premises.... Sitting a row in front of him, 43-year-old Chad Oulson, a former U.S. Navy petty officer, and his wife ..... According to reports, Mr. Oulson exchanged texts with the baby-sitter before the movie started to make sure all was well.... Mr. Reeves reportedly glowered at the couple before asking Mr. Oulson to stop texting. Mr. Oulson ignored him. Mr. Reeves tried to find the theater manager, but he was busy with another customer. Words were eventually exchanged...

Wesley Chapel, Florida--A couple was shot and the man was killed Monday afternoon at the Grove 16 movie theaters in Wesley Chapel, authorities said. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the victims were got into an argument with another couple who were sitting in front of them. An altercation ensued, and the the male suspect shot the couple, authorities said.Both victims were being transported to a Tampa-area hospital, but the male victim died. The female victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said..Another patron inside the theater was able to detain the suspect until deputies arrived, and he was taken into...

The Times' Dan Ruth: ... when it comes to guns and Florida, the official state symbol should be an NRA campaign check. The Times' Sue Carlton: Where isn't there a gun anymore? Not far away, the University of South Florida was recently forced to let students keep guns in their cars because of an appeals court ruling. We are gun-mad, with no plans to change. Creative Loafing's Mitch Perry: At this point if we were doing talk radio we'd hear from a Second Amendment enthusiast saying that in fact, more guns should be allowed, so that ... what? Nicole Oulson...

Guns don’t kill people, popcorn kills people. Or maybe it’s texting. Or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time with some fool who thinks he needs to take a gun to the movies.

'Why didn't he just sit somewhere else?'The Sheriff leading the investigation into the cinema shooting which happened after a row over texting has told MailOnline there is no chance of a Stand Your Ground defence, saying, ‘It was an empty movie theatre. If he was scared why didn’t he move seats?’. Sheriff Chris Nocco has completely dismissed shooter Curtis Reeves’ claims that he gunned down Chad Oulson because he feared for his safety and said there is no way he can use Florida’s controversial self-defence law. He is convinced the retired cop, 71, simply lost his temper after married father-of-one...

The ex-Florida cop charged with murdering a man in a beef over texting at the movies menaced another texting moviegoer at the same theater just last month, she said. Jamira Dixon and her husband said Curtis Reeves, the 71-year-old retired Tampa police captain accused of fatally shooting a man inside a theater Monday, screamed at them during a Dec. 28 showing of “The Hobbit.” “It could have been us,” Dixon told Tampa’s ABC Action News. Reeves was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly gunning down Chad Oulson, who was texting his 3-year-old daughter’s day-care center while in the suburban theater...

Link only. Gannet source

<p>The elderly man accused of shooting a movie theater patron in Florida after an argument over text messaging told police that he fired because he "was in fear of being attacked."</p> <p>Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a news conference today that the victim, Chad Oulson, 43, was texting his young daughter's babysitter when an argument erupted with Reeves over texting during previews before the movie "Lone Survivor."</p>

A 43-year-old father was shot dead by a retired cop in a Florida cinema after a row about him texting his three-year-old daughter as they waited for the movie to start, witnesses said. Chad Oulson was shot in front of his wife and horrified movie-goers during an argument with 71-year-old Curtis Reeves. The victim's wife, Nicole, was injured in the shooting after holding her hands out to try to shield Mr Oulson during the confrontation at a movie theater near Tampa on Monday. After Reeves fired at his chest the victim was heard saying: 'I can't believe I got shot',...

An altercation between two couples at a Wesley Chapel movie theater Monday led to a shooting that left a man dead, authorities said. The suspect was identified as Curtis Reeves, a retired Tampa police officer. He has been arrested on a charge of second-degree homicide. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, Chad and Nichole Oulson got into an argument with Reeves and his wife, who were sitting behind them during previews for the 1:20 p.m. showing of the war movie Lone Survivor. Argument started over cell phone Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said the argument began when Reeves became upset...

A moviegoer lost his life inside a Pasco County theater Monday afternoon after a dispute over texting with a retired police officer. According to the sheriff's office, the dispute happened before the 1:20 showing of 'Lone Survivor' had even gotten underway at the Cobb CineBistro at Grove 16 complex on Wesley Grove Blvd. Investigators say two couples had gotten into an argument over noise. "The victim was on his cell phone; he was texting. We believe he was making some kind of noise. This noise led to an altercation between the suspect and the victim," Sheriff Chris Nocco explained. A...