STEPHEN TRIPP: I firmly believe that there was nothing
I could have done differently.
LARRY MCMILLAN: According to Mr. Tripp,
he was out driving one night and found himself
in a violent driving exchange between motorcyclists
and himself.
Became almost like a dance between the motorcyclists
and Stephen as they were trying to corral or cut him off
and as he was trying to elude or evade them.
Ultimately, they came to a stop at a traffic light
on Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
Stephen's account is that the female motorcyclist
starts to scream at him and confront
him from the passenger side.
Simultaneously, the male motorcyclist
gets off his motorcycle, approaches
the driver's side door.
Stephen hears a loud bang.
We believe that was the victim striking the door.
And as a result of that, Stephen instinctively fires two shots.
They struck the victim, which resulted in severe injury
and permanent disability.
In the state of Florida, a person
is entitled to use deadly force if they reasonably fear
that their life is in peril.
And that's exactly what I believe
happened in this situation.
The male motorcyclist was attacking Stephen,
and Stephen was merely defending himself.
My life right now has been put on hold for two years.
I can't go out of the state of Florida,
burning up all my savings because I can't get a job.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
When I first saw the motorcycle, he pulled in front of me.
When he pulled in front of me, I went to the right,
I swerve to the left, leaning swerve to the left lane,
hit the brakes again I spoke to the middle lane.
He cut in front of me again.
They kept on chasing me.
I don't know what they're going to do when they catch me.
Then when we got to Dixie Highway,
the traffic stopped and I couldn't get away from it.
What happened?
What are you thinking at that point?
STEPHEN TRIPP: I've got a full on attack.
They're going to make sure I can't get away.
And so I reach down for my pistol.
OK.
This is huge bang on my driver's side.
It scared me.
And I turned that way.
When I turned around, the door swung open he was right there.
I turned around and fired at him.
The prosecution's theory is that the victim was merely
approaching just to let you know and you
need to be more cautious and careful
in the manner in which you drive.
If they're boxed me in and try to stop me,
why are they doing that?
There's no point.
Other than the fact that they're going
to try to hurt me or kill me.
So sometimes, this gets a little intense for me.
I hate it when I get emotional when I hate it, guy.
When we get too much into this and talk too much, it really,
and it gets intense.
[CHUCKLES]
Sheesh.
Oh, man.
I'm sorry.
Gosh, it gets intense.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
Get on your knees.
Put your hands on top of your head.
$20 for $0.2 right here for me.
You got the shooter over here.
I'm not part of that group.
I was just riding alongside them.
The biker got off, walked up, walked up to the passenger side
and just yelling at them.
The guy takes out a pistol, and boom, boom, boom.
And then I walked up to the truck.
Go, dude, take it easy, take it easy.
He's got the pistol and he's pointing it at me.
He came around and pointed at me.
The guy with the gun went frickin' nuts.
He's ready to blast away anyone that walked up to their truck.
Right.
He seems to be really moved by what he saw.
That's powerful testimony right there.
INTERVIEWER: Do you know how many times he fired his gun?
Twice.
It was the first time in the arm and then he fell to the ground,
and then he shot him in the stomach.
INTERVIEWER: OK.
SAMANTHA SALAS: And the first time he got hit, he fell down
and then he shot him when he was laying down.
INTERVIEWER: What happened?
Stephen's going to be in hot water.
If they believe these people, then
Stephen is going to state prison for the rest of his life.
[SAD MUSIC PLAYING]
STEPHEN TRIPP: In my abdomen, I have two very large tumors.
One that's a little bigger than baseball, one
is a little smaller than a baseball.
The test that they did and showed
it to be definitively cancer.
This whole entire side, the right side
from the back bone around to the navel, that's
where most of the pain is.
LARRY MCMILLAN: This is Stephen.
It's his truck.
Here is the victim that's, a motorcycle right there.
Now, he's getting off you see him getting off the bike.
The video shows that door springing wide open
and immediately springing back, immediately.
You can see what appears to be Indelicato's left arm,
reaching forward and coming back as the door opens.
The video evidence we have in this case
is pretty significant, but it's not complete.
It's black and white, grainy, you
can't quite see his hand on the door handle pulling it open.
I'm looking at a police report from a number of years ago.
And in this case, Stephen was the victim of an armed robbery
and he was shot.
STEPHEN TRIPP: We pulled up to the gas pump.
When I got out of the car to get the gas, also
and he came from behind the car, and he had the gun in his hand.
He steps out with a gun like this,
OK, and has his hand like this and then he closes his hand,
and grabs me by the arm.
So then he says, "Give me your wallet.
You know, we carried a gun".
I reached out and grabbed the gun and fired over my shoulder.
OK.
And when I turned, he fired to shoot me in the chest.
That's what I saw the blood running down.
He fired shoot me the chest, but it shattered this wrist.
And I stepped out of the car, he turned on and shot me again.
OK.
And that time, he hit me through the leg.
I told my wife to drive then we left and I got her
to drive me to the hospital.
LARRY MCMILLAN: Do you see any similarities
between what happened to you in '94
and what happened to you in 2019?
How can you not?
You know, how can you not remember
you were already shot twice?
Within one month, the tumors increased 50% in size.
The doctors have told me I can die
tonight, tomorrow, whenever.
Every day, I have to keep waiting,
it's a possibility of me not actually
making it to the trial.
I prepared and filed what's called
a stand your ground motion, a motion to dismiss the case.
And if we are able to establish self-defense in this case,
Stephen is entitled to immunity.
We're asking Judge Coleman to make a finding that you should
be immune from prosecution.
Right.
OK.
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
OK.
LARRY MCMILLAN: Can you look at the screen
and tell me when you see he dismounts?
LARRY MCMILLAN: Can you see your car?
LARRY MCMILLAN: So your car is not there yet, your car is not
in the screen, but you're telling us
that you were right there within 10 feet
when he gets off the bike.
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
LAWYER: Why did this white pickup
truck capture your attention at that point in time?
LAWYER: Describe that.
LAWYER: Were you frustrated that this driver could have
killed one of the two of you?
When you stopped right behind him on the side,
you were going to approach for what reason?
LARRY MCMILLAN: We've got to resort
to an alternative strategy and that's
to attack and undermine the credibility of John Indelicato.
LAWYER: Do you think on August 24, 2019, do you think he was
aggressively trying to run either you
or your wife off the road?
Did it anger you?
LARRY MCMILLAN: You wouldn't say that you were
upset or angry at all, zero.
You don't know who was at your door, male, female, young
or old, then you shot, correct?
No further questions.
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
There was zero testimony on either side
that the victim was armed in any way, shape, or form.
In order to assert immunity, in a stand your ground hearing,
you need to have imminent deadly force coming at you,
defendant testified, that the door suddenly opened
and he didn't even see what he shot.
How can you argue that you were under such fear for your life
if you don't even know who or what you shot?
LARRY MCMILLAN: Stephen was cornered,
attacked, he reasonably believed that the use of deadly force
was necessary to prevent his death.
And in Florida, you do not have to wait
until a subject has hands on you until there's actual harm.
You can shoot that person right there, judge.
Thank you very much for your time.
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
It's an eight-page document, but all you really need to read
is just the title of the documents.
We have the judge's order granting
immunity and dismissal.
Stephen, I got some great news for you.
The case is over.
The judges declared you immune from prosecution
and entered an order granting dismissal of the charges.
Effectively, the prosecution of you has ended.
It's over.
STEPHEN TRIPP: I really appreciate it.
See you soon.
LARRY MCMILLAN: Bye.