He shot an unarmed man after a scuffle. Will Miami-Dade prosecutors bring charges?

The video is jarring: A man in a yellow shirt points a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun at two men outside of a Southwest Miami-Dade auto body shop. The gunman opens fire and one man crumples.

But more than three months after Fernando Rodriguez, 22, was accused of shooting Onofre “Tito” Garrido after a scuffle, no actual criminal charges have been filed. Rodriguez’s arraignment, pushed back six times since his arrest, is now set for Friday but may face another delay. Though Garrido and his attorney have a scheduled meeting with state prosecutors later this month, they’re concerned the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground law may be stopping prosecutors from moving forward.

Garrido, the 50-year-old owner of Ultimate Auto Werks, survived gunshots to his chest and left arm, but now has trouble breathing and limited use of the wounded arm.

“We can see the writing on the wall,” said Garrido’s attorney Hilton Napoleon. “But when did wrestling matches become life-threatening events?”

Miami-Dade State Attorney spokesman Ed Griffith — without addressing whether formal criminal charges will be filed against Rodriguez — noted the hearing set before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Milton Hirsch this week. He wouldn’t say if the unusually lengthy time period for filing official charges has anything to do with state prosecutors grappling with the state’s self-defense law.

“If we weren’t going to try him, we wouldn’t have a court date,” Griffith said.

Rodriguez, who could be facing aggravated assault and attempted second-degree murder charges, bonded out of jail shortly after the shooting and has yet to face a judge.

Court records show that Rodriguez is represented by attorney Charles Hughes. The only attorney by that name who is a member of Florida’s Bar is a partner in the Orlando-area law firm Katz & Phillips, which also goes by the name “The Firearm Firm.” Reached last week, Hughes refused to confirm whether he is representing Rodriguez. Rodriguez could not be reached. Phone numbers associated with him on online databases had been disconnected.

Hughes said confirming that Rodriguez was his client would be “a violation of the rules of professional conduct.” And he said, when asked specifically about the case and how he would handle the defense of Rodriguez, “I’m sure his attorney would not submit to an interview.”

STAND YOUR GROUND REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL

But many other defense attorneys have found the state’s controversial self-defense law an effective tool to head off charges as well as to justify shootings with juries in court. For one thing, the law shifted the burden of proof to prosecutors to show that a shooter was not acting in self-defense. It also ended the requirement to “retreat” before responding to a perceived threat with gunfire. Critics complain the law is so vague, all that’s needed to claim self-defense in Florida is for the aggressor to say that person was in fear for their life or from suffering serious bodily injury.

Florida lawmakers first crafted a Stand Your Ground law in 2005, but it didn’t get its first big test until 2012 when unarmed teen Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a volunteer neighborhood watchman named George Zimmerman. Since Zimmerman’s acquittal the following year, the Republican-led Legislature has expanded the law with the support of gun rights advocates who argue citizens should be able to protect themselves against potentially deadly threats.

Many cases may indeed seem clear-cut self-defense but every year, other cases stand out as murky. In October, for instance, it took a jury just two hours to acquit Daishum Doctor, who had been charged with second-degree murder after he shot a neighborhood rival who was riding a motor bike toward him. Jurors even saw surveillance video showing Doctor slowed down his car, opened the door, and fired several times, striking Devin Smith and hurling him from his speeding bike.

Also acquitted on a Stand Your Ground defense three weeks ago was Guy Georges, a day trader who got into a scrap at a Hollywood nightclub and killed a man. The case is scheduled to be highlighted next week on the A&E Network show “Accused: Guilty or Innocent?”

According to police and court testimony, Georges was leaving Hollywood Live at 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 3. 2021, when his cousin bumped into a woman. Her boyfriend, Anthony Sutton, jawed with Georges, witnesses and Georges’ lawyer Andrew Rier said.

A witness before Broward County Circuit Court Judge Marina Garcia-Wood said as the argument became more heated, Sutton issued a threat suggesting he might arm himself, saying, “If they’re gonna get theirs, I’m gonna go to my truck and get mine.”

Moments later, according to testimony, Sutton returned to where Georges was standing behind a vehicle. Georges pointed his weapon at Sutton, who moved toward him, a witness said. Georges fired three times, killing Sutton. Hollywood Police never found a weapon on or near the dead man.

Georges wasn’t taken into custody until seven months later and was charged with first-degree murder. But the judge dismissed the case. In her ruling three weeks ago, Judge Garcia-Wood said ”... the State has not established by clear and convincing evidence that 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 or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.”

The judge found Sutton had made a verbal threat and that alone was enough for Georges to assume Sutton was armed.

GARRIDO HAD NO WEAPON

According to witnesses and the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Nov. 11 incident report, Garrido was working at his body shop near the Three Lakes subdivision around 2:30 p.m when Rodriguez pulled up in his flatbed carrying a truck. Garrido became angered when Rodriguez refused to move from blocking part of the shop’s front and told Rodriguez so.

Words were exchanged. The two got into a wrestling match and fell to the ground. Up to that point, the video obtained by the Miami Herald only shows Rodriguez, wearing a yellow shirt disappearing behind his truck. About 30 seconds later he re-emerges, facing Garrido and another man.

It’s difficult to see Rodriguez actually fire the weapon in the video, but witnesses told police he fired four times. The video clearly shows Garrido falling to the ground and Rodriguez moving toward him or standing over him. He was shot in the left arm and chest, police said. Garrido did not have a gun or any other type of weapon on him during the confrontation, his attorneys said.

A witness told police that before the wrestling match began Garrido hit the side of Rodriguez’s truck. One witness told police that after the men stood up from the wrestling match, Rodriguez displayed his weapon and Garrido moved back. When Garrido moved slightly forward, the witness told police, Rodriguez opened fire.

SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE, BUT NO CHARGES

The incident report shows officers believed there was sufficient evidence to charge Rodriguez with, at the very least, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. But Napoleon believes the Stand Your Ground law may be a hurdle for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office — and it would be a higher bar if the incident had not been caught on surveillance video and Garrido not survived.

“If there was no video and the victim died,” Napoleon said, “you’re basically leaving what happened up to the shooter.”