Three Miami-Dade officers seek Stand Your Ground immunity in long-running UPS truck shootout prosecution

A hearing will test whether criminal charges can proceed after a 2019 hostage chase ended in crossfire

Three Miami-Dade law enforcement officers charged in the 2019 shootout that killed a UPS driver and a motorist are set to argue they are immune from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, a legal strategy that has already succeeded for another officer charged in the same case.

The charges stem from a high-profile police pursuit that began in Miami-Dade County and ended in Miramar, in Broward County, after two armed robbery suspects commandeered a UPS truck and took the driver hostage. The incident ended with a burst of gunfire involving multiple officers from several agencies. UPS driver Frank Ordonez and bystander Richard Cutshaw were killed, along with the two robbery suspects.

The three officers now seeking immunity are Rodolfo Mirabal, Richard Santiesteban, and Leslie Lee. Mirabal faces two manslaughter counts; Santiesteban and Lee each face one manslaughter count connected to Ordonez’s death. None of the officers were charged in the deaths of the two suspects.

What the immunity hearing is expected to examine

The court is expected to review testimony, body-worn camera video, and other evidence from the confrontation. In a Stand Your Ground immunity proceeding, the central question is whether an officer’s use of deadly force was legally justified under the statute. If the judge grants immunity, the criminal case is dismissed; if not, the prosecution continues toward trial.

Key issues are expected to include the speed and chaos of the final moments of the pursuit, the presence of civilians at a congested intersection, and whether the actions of the officers were reasonable under the circumstances. The deaths of two uninvolved civilians are central to the case, particularly because the contested gunfire unfolded while Ordonez was still inside the hijacked vehicle.

A prior ruling reshaped the legal landscape

The joint hearing follows an earlier decision involving suspended Miami-Dade officer Jose Mateo, also charged with manslaughter in Ordonez’s death. In September 2025, a Broward circuit judge dismissed the charge against Mateo after finding he was protected by Stand Your Ground immunity. Prosecutors have appealed that ruling, keeping legal questions about the statute’s reach active in the appellate courts.

Investigators previously said it has not been publicly determined which officer fired the fatal shots that killed Ordonez or Cutshaw. The case originated after a multi-year investigation and resulted in indictments that were unusual in Florida, where on-duty shootings by police rarely lead to criminal charges.

• Incident date: December 2019

• Location of final shootout: Miramar, Broward County

• Victims: UPS driver Frank Ordonez and motorist Richard Cutshaw

• Current issue: whether remaining officers are immune from prosecution under Stand Your Ground

The immunity hearings focus on whether the officers’ use of deadly force was legally justified, a threshold decision that can end a case before trial.

The court has scheduled the immunity proceedings to begin the week of February 2, with time set aside for a multi-day evidentiary presentation.