Man who fired AR-15 rounds at his ex and her husband cleared in Stand Your Ground case

A Kendall man charged with attempted murder after firing several rounds from a semi-automatic rifle at his ex-wife and her husband two years ago was cleared this week by a judge who said he felt rightly threatened — despite never being fired upon.

Rafael Martinez argued he crashed his vehicle into a curb while being chased by his former wife and her new husband. Then, he said, he unloaded four rounds from his AR-15 at the couple as a green laser sight from a gun in the couple’s possession was pointed at him.

No one was struck or injured by gunfire. No rounds were found from the alleged gun with the laser. And versions of the incident relayed from several witnesses varied.

“The issue in this case is what was on the defendant’s mind the time of the incident, and was it reasonable for him to believe that his life was in danger under the circumstances,” Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pooler said in her seven-page opinion. “Since there were two versions of what happened, and no conclusive evidence, this determination rests on the credibility of the witnesses.”

Martinez, 42, remarried with a new-born and who had been facing charges that could have landed him in prison for life, no longer has to stand trial. He successfully claimed self defense under Stand Your Ground, a controversial Florida law meant to protect people from prosecution if they use deadly force to defend themselves as long as they had a reasonable fear of being greatly harmed.

Martinez’s attorney Richard Gregg said the incident involving his client, and his client’s ex-wife’s husband was the result of several months of bickering between the two men.

“There’s no doubt that at times he engaged with this guy verbally,” Gregg said. “But I think this is a perfect example of how Stand Your Ground should work. This is a man who’s been harassed by his ex-wife’s husband for years.”

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office wouldn’t comment on the judge’s ruling. Jorge and Elvia Reyes — the couple who Martinez shot at — could not be reached.

Decades after Trayvon’s death, self-defense law still questioned

The still-controversial Stand Your Ground law that was used to get Martinez off the hook was passed in 2005. The new law removed the obligation of someone to retreat before fighting back, even with deadly force, if that person felt threatened with bodily harm.

Advocates and gun rights activists hailed the revision as a victory that would make the streets safer. Others feared it would create an open season in an already gun-happy state and lead to unbridled vigilantism. A study two years ago by the National Institute of Health showed homicides in the southern U.S., including Florida, rose as much as 10 percent after new self-defense laws went into effect.

Read more: A decade after Trayvon Martin’s death, Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law has only expanded

There have been a number of highly controversial shootings throughout Florida in the almost two decades since the law changed. The most infamous incident was the 2012 shooting death of South Florida teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford by security guard George Zimmerman. Though Zimmerman’s lawyers didn’t argue Stand Your Ground at trial, the night watchman was acquitted after he shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, who was on his way home after going to the store during halftime of the NBA All-Star game.

Zimmerman told investigators he believed the hoodie-wearing teen was “up to no good.” So, he said, he followed Trayvon through his father’s condominium complex until the two confronted each other and got into a struggle. Zimmerman told police he was forced to fire his gun in self-defense. They let him go. He was arrested six weeks later after then-Gov. Rick Scott appointed a special prosecutor in a case that riveted the nation and is credited with the start of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Halloween car chase ends in shooting

The shooting that landed Martinez, an Amazon truck driving deliveryman at the time, in hot water began early in the evening of Halloween in 2022. He said he drove to the home he lived in with his former wife and two kids, to visit his son. The couple had a quite contentious divorce, according to court records.

When he got to the home, Martinez said, it appeared abandoned. But in front of the home was a truck driven by Jorge Reyes, his ex wife’s husband. The two exchanged words and Martinez said when he left, Reyes, with his former wife in the passenger seat, followed.

During the drive through Kendall neighborhoods, Martinez told the court he noticed the green laser from what he believed was a gun pointed at him several times. Finally, trying to get away, he said he made a u-turn on Sunset Drive, then crashed into a curb.

Then, he pulled out his AR-15 and fired four rounds at the black truck behind him. No one was hit. But witness accounts differed. Though only shells from Martinez’s rifle were recovered, several witnesses claimed gunfire also came from the truck driven by Reyes.

The next day police found Martinez’s white Chrysler 300 at his home and took him into custody. He was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and two counts of firing a deadly missile into an occupied dwelling and taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

In her order earlier this week, Judge Pooler noted that Martinez had no duty to retreat and was permitted to meet force with force. She also explained how under the law the state is burdened with proving that the defendant should not be entitled to immunity and that the defendant — Martinez in this case — is not required to prove anything.

“Mr. Martinez’s testimony was very credible, especially describing the fear he felt when the laser sight was aimed at him,” Pooler wrote in her opinion. “Though there is obviously no love lost between him and Reyes, his tone of voice was not angry, as opposed to Reyes whose hostility towards Martinez was palpable.”