A Miami Dade Police officer cannot be prosecuted for killing a hostage UPS driver in 2019 because the state’s stand-your-ground law justified the use of deadly force against the kidnappers, a Broward judge ruled Thursday.

The ruling by Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra is the latest landmark ruling in the application of “stand your ground” to law enforcement officers. This appears to be the first time the law has been invoked by a police officer to block a prosecution when the victim is not the intended target of the shooting.

Jose Mateo, 33, was on duty in Miami-Dade County when he learned of the pursuit involving kidnapped UPS driver Frank Ordoñez and his assailants, Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill. The pursuit ended at a Miramar intersection where Mateo and fellow officers

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