A suspended Miami-Dade County police officer involved in a deadly shootout with UPS carjackers has been cleared of a manslaughter charge.
A Broward judge has ruled Jose Mateo was standing his ground when he opened fire on Miramar Parkway.
Judge Ernest Kollra wrote, "the state has not established by clear and convincing evidence that the Defendant did not have a reasonable belief that his use of deadly force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another."
Three other officers were charged with manslaughter and are awaiting trial.
The Broward State Attorney's Office releasing this statement:
"Immunity from prosecution is not the same as a defense presented to a jury from this community.
It is our belief that Stand Your Ground immunity does not apply in matters involving innocent bystanders, like Frank Ordonez and Richard Cutshaw, who presented no danger to officers. In this incident, two innocent men were killed and the lives of numerous other innocent bystanders were endangered.
We plan to appeal this ruling.
The cases against the other three officers will move forward while this appeal is underway."