Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 3-14-17

Local Stand Your Ground
Ex-Police Captain Denied ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense
CURTIS REEVES ... Must stand trial
JUDGE SUSAN BARTHLE
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Friday, a judge is- sued a ruling in the ‘Stand Your Ground’ hearing of a former Tampa Police Cap- tain. The judge ruled that the former officer must stand trial in the death of a Wesley Chapel man.
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court Judge Susan Barthle denied immunity to Curtis Reeves for the second-degree murder of 43-year-old Chad Oul- son.
Retired Tampa Police Captain Curtis Reeves, 74, and his wife, Vivian, were in a Wesley Chapel theater on January 13, 2014. Reeves became in- volved in an argument with Oulson over the use of a cell phone. At some point during the con- frontation, Oulson is al- leged to have thrown popcorn into Reeves’ face, and Reeves shot and killed him. Oulson’s wife, Nicole, was also injured by gunfire, but recovered from her injuries.
In her ruling, Judge Barthle wrote, “The physical evidence contra- dicts the defendant’s ver- sion of events. For instance, the defendant testified that he was hit in the outside corner of his left eye with a cell phone or a fist. The video evi- dence contradicts this as- sertion, clearly showing that there was not a hit from a fist, and the item argued by the defense to
be a cell phone was simply a reflection from the de- fendant’s shoes.
“... In addition, com- mon sense and the credi- ble testimony of the medical examiner casts grave doubt on the likeli- hood of anything hitting the defendant in the eye beneath his glasses in the manner the defendant de- scribed. Which begs the question, why did the de- fendant say he was hit in the left eye, to the point of being dazed, when the video images and basic physics indicate that he did not get hit in the left eye with anything? The logical conclusion is that he was trying to justify his actions after the fact,’ she wrote.
Judge Barthle also pointed out that Reeves had testified that he grabbed Oulson’s body with his left hand while he fired with his right hand.
However, the video shows that Reeves lunged at Oulson and that when the fatal shot was fired, his arm was so extended when he fired, and that Oulson “was so far back that he could not be seen in the video.”
The ruling means that Reeves must stand trial on the murder charge and cannot use the “Stand Your Ground” law as a de- fense.
The controversial “Stand Your Ground” law was passed in 2005. Then Governor Jeb Bush signed it into law.
HART CEO And Board Chair Visit Sentinel Editorial Board
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Sentinel Editorial Board members ask variety of questions, make sugges- tions to HART CEO and Board Chair
Hillsborough Area Re- gional Transit (HART) CEO Katharine Eagan, AICP, and the chairman of its Board of Directors, County Commissioner Les Miller, met with the Sentinel Editorial Board on Wednesday afternoon.
Board members asked a variety of questions from maintaining and cleaning the shelters in low income neighborhoods, to survey- ing riders to see what they want or need, to suggest- ing ways to getting the community interested in riding public transporta- tion.
In her opening state- ments, Mrs. Eagan said nationally, ridership on public transportation is down. However, the pur- pose of HART is to “make life happen for people, whether they’re getting to work, church, grocery store or to visit grandpar- ents.” And, there are a number of ways to do that, and sometime several steps.
More funding would possibly make some trips shorter, because an in- crease in the number of buses to use during rush hour would decrease the time of long trips.
Route 6 that goes through East Tampa is the busiest of the routes, cov- ers a large area, she said and carries about 4,000 passengers per day.
Board member and Sentinel Publisher, Kay Andrews was concerned about the everyday riders who must sit among de- bris and inoperable fix- tures as they wait for the bus. She added that those in low income communi- ties should have the same nice stops as other areas of the county, where their shelters are covered and
KATHARINE EAGAN ...HART CEO
maintained. Inconveniently placed
bus stops that cause traffic backups were also a con- cern.
Eagan explained that there are approximately 600 shelters that should be cleaned every 2 weeks, but that is one of the items she will definitely have staff to check on. She would also have staff to look at the stops to see where there may be a dis- connect.
Commissioner Miller said it all comes down to money. “We don’t have the buses nor the money. Right now, we’re trying to get an increase millage tax. When resi- dents hear the word tax, they automatically say no.”
Compared to cities like Jacksonville which spends $110 per person on public transportation and has a smaller fleet, Hillsborough County spends $55 per person.
Eagan HART’s fund- ing comes from several sources: 48% from prop- erty taxes, 28% from fares, 17% from state and federal grants, and the remainder from ads and other sources.
Currently, the county gives 1⁄2 millage tax to HART, which is about $35 million, Eagan said. However, that tax has not been raised since 2012. According to Comm. Miller, that’s a long process to raise the mill- age. There has to be a change in the charter, which has to be approved by the HART Board, Board of County Commissioners,
Tampa City Council and the Temple Terrace City Council.
Board member Wilbert Malphus asked about HART’s Park and Ride program. Eagan said the Park and Ride parking area are established throughout the city. The commuter route is nor- mally 2 trips.
Ruben Padgett, a Board member, asked if it’s difficult to hire em- ployees (drivers) and if there are restrictions on them. Most drivers start out at $13 per hour. “If they stick around 6 months, more than likely they will be here for a while,” Eagan said. Em- ployees do have to go through a background check. HART works closely with Abe Brown’s Ready4Work.
Apostle James H. Howell asked about the security at the different hubs. Most of the hubs have security, and Marion Transit has 24 hour secu- rity.
The group also talked about light rail. Eagan said over the past 20 years there have been 55 studies on light rail for a 3-county area – Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco. Comm. Miller said it would probably be another 10 years before light rail comes to the area. But, Padgett said the idea of public transportation in this area needs to change.
By 2023, Eagan said all HART buses should be using natural gas. The transition has already begun.
COMM. LES MILLER ...Chairman, HART Board
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2017