DADE CITY -- The defense has rested in the movie shooting trial of retired Tampa police officer Curtis Reeves. Closing arguments are set to begin at 8:30 Friday morning.
Earlier, Curtis Reeves described shooting victim Chad Oulson as a "monster" looming over him in the moment before he shot and killed him.
The defense put the now 79-year-old suspect in the movie theater shooting on the stand Thursday. Reeves testified that victim Chad Oulson was "out of control" and that he believed the 43-year-old man was going to seriously injure or kill him. Reeves said Oulson was loud and profane and was angry at him for telling the manager about his phone use.
Reeves said he saw a "flash" on his right side and believed something hit him on his glasses, just before he fired the fatal shots. He insisted he believed Oulson was going to injure or kill him.
Prosecutor Scott Rosenwasser methodically went through Reeves' testimony and evidence.
"Did you kill him out of rage?" Rosenwasser asked. "How about blind fury?"
"No, sir, I killed him out of fear," Reeves answered.
Rosenwasser asked Reeves why he initiated a conversation with Oulson after Oulson had told him to "get the *** out of my face." Reeves insisted that his conversation was an attempt at de-escalation.
The prosecutor also sought to persuade jurors that the reflection pointed out by the defense as the possible sign of an object thrown by Oulson. He pointed out that each time Reeves shifted his leg, the reflection appeared, indicating that it came from light bounced off Reeves' shoe.
"At no time was a cell phone thrown at your face," Rosenwasser said.
"No one can answer that but me. I got hit in the face," Reeves replied.
Rosenwasser also pointed out differences in his statements to the original investigating detective and his current testimony. "The powers of observation fade over time," Rosenwasser said in his questioning, quoting a phrase used by Reeves in 2014, when he suggested Reeves was inventing "a second attack."
Reeves told Rosenwasser he's second guessed himself every day for the last eight years.
The judge hopes to have the case in the hands of the jury by Friday afternoon.
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