[Militant]

I never heard of this incident until today. Wow!

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/charges-dropped-against-driver-opened-190000910.html

 

[samharvey]

Wonder if the person who allegedly fired the first shot is being charged?

 

[OldVet]

Miami . . .

 

[Arejay]

Note to self ; always be polite and courteous while being cut off in traffic whilst in Florida

 

[riverrambler]

Hope no kid ever pops a balloon near this guy, he's a nut case.

 

[DownInTheDark]

Florida Man...

 

[retired badge 1]

The decision not to prosecute was probably based upon Popper's claim of self-defense against an aggressive attacker. All he would have to accomplish at trial would be convincing one jury member that he was reasonably in fear for his life in order to avoid conviction.

Prosecutors must evaluate all cases and decide which are most likely to result in conviction. There simply is not enough time, enough judges, enough courtrooms, or enough budget to take every case to trial. When a defendant is represented by legal counsel, appears to have a reasonable chance of acquittal, and refuses to plea bargain to a lesser charge, the prosecutor may decide not to proceed simply so the stronger cases can proceed instead of throwing away days of court time with little chance of success.

Happens every day in every jurisdiction in this country. This doesn't mean there was not probable cause to arrest, sufficient grounds for prosecution, and surely doesn't mean the man was innocent. All it means is that there are a lot more cases than any court system can possibly take through the trial process.

 

[jmf552]

The full dashcam video, contained in this article, seems to me to show that Popper believed he was defending himself against a serious attack. It's just my opinion, but it looks to me like he was firing out of fear, not aggression.

He did calmly pull his gun as the other driver was pulling up on his passenger side, but kept it down. That seemed precautionary to me. The state police said that the other driver only threw a water bottle at him, but Popper may have thought it was more serious. He said, "Oh, s--t" and fired 11 shots. It appears in the video he had his eyes closed for many of them. That's stupid from a tactical perspective, but from an intent perspective, that says defense to me, not aggression.

I guess the DA agreed.

New video shows different angle of incident that led to gunfire on I-95 in Miami-Dade

Chilling dash camera video obtained by Local 10 News shows a road rage incident that led to shots being fired.

www.local10.com

 

[5lima30ret]

Florida Man...

...Or more likely someone from up North that relocated to Florida. Very few people in FL are from there anymore!

 

[m5215]

I thought this was done only in video games?

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/4a9221c83b5cf2fe24356129aa47cb9f.mp4

 

[Rcopu1]

I'll bet his hearing still hasn't returned to normal.

 

[Snub44]

He provoked the road rage, didn't try to de-escalate...and prepared to shoot before the other car got up beside him. I see a gun waggin' a man. I've been wrong before...but that's what I see.

 

[matthew03]

I remember seeing the video, seemed like mutual combat to me. I figured they would both do time.

 

[GRCarry]

Put them both in a room with swords or guns and only one comes out. That should solve it.

 

[RedSafety]

Popper cuts someone off, instigating the encounter. It happens. Other driver escalated the encounter by tailgating. Popper escalated it even further with a brake check. Let's stop there as the rest is in dispute. I recall seeing this video a while ago and questioned it then. It seems to me (not a lawyer by any stretch) that by escalating the matter, Popper negated the self-defense and Stand Your Ground defense in this matter.

Call the police. Drive to a very busy store, fire station, or police station, someplace with lots of cameras.