It seems that nearly every day in the news, we hear about citizens having interactions with the police. Many of these interactions are positive, though there have been many documented cases where the public found the interactions disturbing, and those incidents have raised questions about how police conduct themselves in the field.

The police in Miami wear body cameras, as do the ones in Jacksonville and Orlando. In fact, body cameras are almost accepted as standard gear for police officers in Florida, except for one of the largest cities in the state – Tampa.

Attorney TJ Grimaldi is a strong supporter of police wearing body cameras and is urging the department to fund the program to equip every officer with a camera. As a personal injury attorney who has many years’ experience dealing in cases of wrongful death, he believes that body cams should be mandatory for police.

“I am all for cameras. They help solve questions, concerns, unknown issues and protect citizens,” Mr. Grimaldi says. “Further, they protect law enforcement and solidify evidence, testimony and opinions for all parties involved. They also help create a record of events that may otherwise be confused, forgotten, or simply made up down the road.”

In 2014, Jason Westcott’s home was raided by the Tampa Police Department and SWAT after an informant claimed he was selling drugs. According to police, Westcott brandished a firearm when they entered his home, and as a result, he was shot and killed on the spot. Police seized $2 worth of marijuana in Westcott’s home. Mr. Grimaldi now represents Westcott’s mother in a negligence lawsuit against the City of Tampa.

“For the Westcott case specifically, if law enforcement were wearing body cams, the footage could answer a lot of questions regarding Westcott’s placement, his possession of a gun, and what actually took place within the home, Mr. Grimaldi says. “This could have resulted in clear cut liability or solidified their claim of a lack of negligence which could have avoided litigation in this case, either way.”

Whether or not there is evidence to suggest that wearing a body camera would have any impact on crime rates, or how wearing a camera influences police decision-making and how officers engage with the public, making body cams mandatory could provide powerful information to supply answers to questions that otherwise remain unanswered.

Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which allows potential victims to defend themselves forcefully if they have reason to fear death or serious injury, has made headlines since it was enacted in 2005. But key changes to the law promise higher prosecution costs and greater danger to the public, according to TJ Grimaldi, Tampa attorney and partner at the law firm of McIntyre Thanasides.

The original law gained notoriety through high-profile cases such as the killing of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in 2012 and the 2014 shooting of Chad Oulson in a movie theater. Oulson’s killer faced a pretrial hearing earlier this year. Grimaldi represents the victim’s widow, Nicole Oulson.

Governor Rick Scott of Florida signed SB 128 into law on June 9. Under this new version of Stand Your Ground, the burden of proof shifts from the defendant to the prosecution. Supporters expect the shift in burden of proof to protect the rights of defendants, but opponents of the change raise serious concerns. They call SB 128 the “Shoot to Kill” bill, and argue it will place a greater financial burden on the prosecution, and result in an increased case load and more deaths by lethal action. Critics, Grimaldi among them, believe the new law will increase costs for state attorney’s offices, putting additional pressure on prosecution resources.

The negative public health effects of the existing law were already noted in a study published last January by the Journal of the American Medical Association, which concluded that gun-related homicides in Florida increased nearly 32 percent between 2005, when Stand Your Ground became law, and 2014.

“From a public health perspective, we were shocked that in a given area, rates of people dying changed so abruptly and in such a sustained way,” study co-author Douglas Wiebe told ScienceBlogs. “These are people dying who otherwise wouldn’t have died. That is what is most profound about our findings.” Wiebe is an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

The revised law will result in more plea deals offered, charges dropped, or defendants escaping prosecution due to prosecutorial immunity, Grimaldi said. “Dangerous defendants will have a much better chance at walking free. The change will cost the State Attorney’s Office, and in the end, the citizens much more to prosecute crimes. The State Attorney’s Office has a budget. To force it to carry the burden whenever this defense is raised will require a business decision, because the office cannot handle the increased costs.”

Grimaldi is intimately involved in Stand Your Ground issues. He currently represents Nicole Oulson, widow of the man who was shot and killed in a suburban Tampa movie theater by Curtis Reeves in 2014. Reeves’s defense sought and was denied Stand Your Ground in a pretrial hearing last March. But now the law has changed.

Since the burden will now be on the prosecution, a defendant will have nothing to lose by raising a Stand Your Ground defense. The deck, Grimaldi said, will be more heavily stacked in favor of the defendant.

TJ Grimaldi is an attorney and partner at the law firm of McIntyre Thanasides Bringgold Elliott Grimaldi & Guito, P.A. He has been a featured expert on TV and in major publications, including Inside Edition, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Good Morning America, Nightline, The View, The New York Times, The Tampa Bay Times, and DailyMail.com.To speak with Mr. Grimaldi regarding the recent changes in Stand Your Ground, contact him directly at tj@mcintyrefirm.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                       

Curtis Reeves’ Movie Theatre Shooting Case Hearing Set for February 20^th 2017

Prosecution and Stand Your Ground Defense hearing to take place

TAMPA, FL. (February 14, 2017) – A hearing is set for the case of Curtis Reeves next week at the Dade City Courthouse, more than three years after Chad Oulson was shot and killed in a Pasco movie theatre by Reeves.

Nicole Oulson, who was shot in her wedding finger by Reeves when trying to protect her late husband, will be attending the hearing alongside her attorney, TJ Grimaldi of McIntyre Thanasides Bringgold Elliott Grimaldi & Guito.

Oulson’s family has been waiting three years since Reeves pulled the trigger for the hearing to take place.

Stand your ground, a highly controversial area of self-defense law, is being used by Reeves’ defense team. If the judge accepts this, Reeves will be immune from being charged and the State will not be able to prosecute him.

“It’s the only road he can take,” says Grimaldi. “Reeves will have to convince the judge that he was justified in murdering Oulson, when Oulson threw popcorn in his face when confronted about using his cell phone in the movie theater, prior to the movie even starting.”

“He will have to justify his actions which ultimately left a man murdered, a widow and soon-to-be five year-old daughter alone without a husband and father,” says Grimaldi.

Chad Oulson was unarmed and 43 years of age at the time. Reeves was 71. A former police captain, Reeves has been under house arrest since 2014.

About McIntyre Thanasides Bringgold Elliott Grimaldi & Guito, P.A.

Established in 2006, McIntyre Thanasides is one of Tampa’s top 25 largest law firms, representing a wide spectrum of legal issues from criminal defense, complex business litigation, bankruptcy, personal injury and more.

Because our firm handles a wide variety of legal issues, for individuals and businesses alike, we’re the attorneys with whom you can have an enduring relationship, your lawyers for life. We can help you with your legal issues at work – a breach of contract case or asset acquisition – and we can help you with personal matters – your cousin’s DUI or brother’s personal injury case. We can also be an asset to your business – a commercial real estate transaction or a contract negotiation.

News contact:

TJ Grimaldi, Partner and Attorney

TJ@mcintyrefirm.com

813-266-1023