(PHONE RINGING)
(OPERATOR SPEAKING)
(ALLEGED VICTIM SPEAKING)
(BRYAN SPEAKING)
(ALLEGED VICTIM SPEAKING)
(SIRENS BLARING)
BRYAN: I shot out your tires for trying to run, you stupid bitch!
(BRYAN SPEAKING)
Bryan fired deadly missiles into an occupied vehicle.
That fact alone can put him in prison for a long time.
BRYAN: If I don’t win this case,
my entire life, the way I know it,
I could lose it all...
for trying to do the right thing.
I’m Lisa Figueroa, and I’m the defense attorney for Bryan Anthony Lee.
Bryan’s accused of two serious felony charges,
shooting a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle,
and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
He’s also charged with misdemeanor offenses.
But the more significant are the two felony charges.
If he were convicted of both of those felonies,
he’s facing up to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
On December 26th, 2021,
Bryan was driving with his family.
He says, they see the vehicle in front of them tailgating these motorcyclists.
So, Bryan, being a motorcycle rider himself, gets concerned,
and so he simply flashes his light.
Apparently that driver reacts and slams his brakes.
Bryan had to swerve to avoid him,
and when he did, he was facing oncoming traffic.
When he tried to get back into the lane,
Bryan claims that
the other driver didn’t let him in,
and that caused a collision.
LISA: After the crash, Bryan claims that this guy
is trying to leave the scene.
He takes out his gun and he shoots the back left tire
to immobilize the vehicle.
Bryan maintains that the only thing he was ever trying to do
was to keep the alleged victim
from getting back out on the road.
However, the alleged victim gives a totally different story
He claims that it’s Bryan’s fault
that the accident happened
and that Bryan threatened him.
And so that’s where the aggravated assault
with the deadly weapon comes from.
LISA: The prosecution is gonna paint this as a road rage incident,
where Bryan recklessly discharged his firearm
with no regard to the consequences.
This case is gonna come down
to whether or not the jury
believes that Bryan was a hero
in the way he acted in the moment,
or whether he was a vigilante
taking the law into his own hands.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
BRYAN: I’ve never been in trouble with the law.
Never been in trouble for anything.
And I feel like I’m stuck.
I mean, I haven’t been able to move on with my life.
That night my big goal was
keeping my family and everybody safe.
When people’s safety and lives are on the line,
it’s kind of, it’s kind of hard for me to just sit back.
It could be...
It’s just the way I’m wired.
I spent four years in the Marine Corps
as an Aviation Ordnanceman,
putting the bombs together, doing the missiles.
You know, I was young and I felt untouchable.
I really did learn a lot.
The Marine Corps considers me an expert marksman.
Uh, this is the highest award
they give for, uh, rifle marksmanship.
I’m pretty proud of that.
I did use my training that night.
Me assessing the situation,
knowing what to do to mitigate danger,
and without my training, I mean
I couldn’t tell you what would’ve happened.
I’ve asked Bryan to come in and meet with me today,
so that way we can go over the case,
and he can explain to me
why he took the actions that he did on that night.
So I had a chance to review the police report,
and I’ve also looked at the charges
that the state has filed against you.
These are some really serious charges.
The two felonies you have,
they’re punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
(EXHALES)
I wanna hear your version
of what happened that night
and why you did what you did.
Well, basically, I was on my way to dinner with my family.
Out ahead of us
I see somebody driving erratically,
severely tailgating a motorcycle.
I’m thinking to myself,
"He’s gonna kill this guy."
So I flash my brights,
and that’s when the guy slammed on his brakes in front of me.
So I had to swing out from behind him to not hit him.
And then I decided to just
merge back in front of him and go on my way.
But he held me in oncoming traffic,
and I got put with a choice
of either having a head-on
or, uh, basically turning back into him.
And so then the cars collide and then what?
And then we come to a stop on the side of the road in the ditch, basically.
I hear my daughter behind me and she’s freaking out. She’s crying.
So I turned around and make sure nobody’s hurt and stuff.
I was pretty sure the car was totaled.
So then I see this guy start to go.
I’m thinking to myself, "He’s dangerous."
So I ran over there and I... I’m yelling at him like,
"Stop this car!" And he’s just not listening.
-So the man was trying to get away? -Yes.
So my next step is my pistol.
I put three shots in his tire and ended up popping it.
Do you have any kind of specific training
that would’ve helped you know that
you were gonna be able to hit the tire?
Uh, so I did Marine Corps pistol training.
And, uh...
that was definitely a big factor
in me choosing to do what I did.
So at any point, did you specifically threaten to kill him,
to shoot him?
Absolutely not.
I was just doing the best I could in the moment.
And here I am,
being accused of being some malicious, angry guy
that I’m not.
All right, Bryan, well, I think I have all the information that I need from you.
I’ll be in touch.
All right. Sounds good.
Talking to Bryan really helps me understand what his mindset is.
He went into protective mode
because of his military training.
But the struggle is gonna be whether or not
a juror is going to think he was acting reasonably,
or if he should have just called the police
and waited for them to come and let them deal with it.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
Angelia is pretty much my stepdaughter.
She’s been living with me now for three-and-half years.
She just means a lot to me.
I call her my daughter.
I mean, no doubt about it. She’s my family.
-You got it? -Yeah.
There you go.
KATHLEEN: Bryan and I met three years ago.
And we just clicked.
Bryan has changed our lives.
Uh, my daughter and I.
He’s, he’s our, our person.
-You think you got what it takes? -No.
He is very protective, especially of his family.
The idea of him being in jail for potentially 20 years,
it would turn my life upside down,
as well as Angelia’s. (CLEARS THROAT)
We’re in a situation where the alleged victim’s story
is different from Bryan’s story.
These kind of roadside incidents are always challenging.
The people involved tend to be
in a heightened state of emotion because of the crash,
and any witnesses that are traveling by are going at speed,
so they don’t always see everything.
I’m gonna have you, kind of, walk me through what happened
and where did it all start?
It started much further back.
So I flash him,
and that’s when the guy’s trying to brake-check me,
and it forced me to come out from behind him
and into the turn lane, basically into oncoming traffic
He starts toying with us, like, not letting us come back over,
no matter how fast we go.
He made contact with the back left of his car
onto the front right of our car.
LISA: I didn’t realize that the alleged victim literally pushed you off the road.
Yes. So I have to counter-steer or I have to take this head-on.
And I counter-steered and we end up
face-first in the ditch somewhere over here.
And the guy that pushed you off the road,
where did his vehicle go?
And I see him over here, he’s on the sidewalk.
And he, his car just starts scooting
like it’s ready to go.
And he’s continuing to move?
He’s steadily driving down the sidewalk, it is his own personal lane.
So when you actually fired the gun, were you that distance?
Um, yes, I was about right here.
I knew I had to do something to
basically demobilize his car.
LISA: Bryan was much closer than I thought when he shot the tire.
Which can help prove that he wasn’t reckless in his actions.
But the main problem is that he opened fire in public
and actually shot at an occupied vehicle multiple times,
and for many people, that’s just dangerous and inexcusable.
So that’s what we have to overcome.
My client’s facing 20 years in prison
for shooting into a vehicle, and aggravated assault.
I need to prove that in the context of what was going on,
that his actions were legally justified and not reckless.
I’m going to see my brother, who’s also an attorney.
I want him to help me look at the evidence in absolute detail,
to help support Bryan’s claims.
So here’s the 911 call.
You see how he keeps saying, "He shot at me,
-"he shot at me?" -"He shot at me."
They’re charging aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,
because of the fear element and the threatening.
(ALLEGED VICTIM SPEAKING)
(OPERATOR SPEAKING)
So what do you think?
The dispatcher herself has to tell him to stop.
"Don’t talk to him. We don’t want you talking
-"to the man with the gun." -Right.
He doesn’t seem to ever at any point,
to have any, um, fear of Bryan, whatsoever.
(OPERATOR SPEAKING)
(ALLEGED VICTIM SPEAKING)
(OPERATOR SPEAKING)
So he says a couple of drinks,
-meaning he’d been drinking. -Right.
Did the police give him a breathalyzer?
No, the alleged victim, they didn’t.
They claimed that because he didn’t seem impaired,
they didn’t follow through with any kind of, uh,
DUI-related test.
It’s unfortunate that the police didn’t do it,
because then we don’t have that as additional evidence.
OPERATOR: Sir... Sir...
LISA: I’m a little bit concerned about Bryan’s tone,
-the language, the yelling and cursing. -Yeah.
The state’s gonna wanna argue,
make him out to be like a road-rager.
You could lose some jurors
with just the use of the strong language,
the yelling alone.
I think if I heard that, if I heard that, I think
I would start to have serious questions about Bryan’s behavior.
LISA: What’s really concerning on this call
is how loud and aggressive Bryan sounds,
and I’m sure the prosecution is really gonna hone in on that at trial.
That could be potentially damaging for our case.
BRYAN: Oof! Acrobat.
(LAUGHS)
Me and my dad’s relationship is pretty important to me.
We’re about 16 years apart, I think.
We like, kind of grew up together.
Used to work together all day, every day,
go on Harley rides all over the place.
Sometimes my dad’s definitely
more like my brother than my dad.
I wish you could have went on that ride with us yesterday, Bryan.
-Really? -It was fun.
It definitely helps me to kind of step back off of things
and not be, not be so beat up by everything that’s going on.
MITCH: Ooh! BRYAN: Oh.
MITCH: There goes my bait.
Oh.
Well, I’m catching stuff, at least. Might be trees, but...
He’s my first-born son.
Um, he means a lot to me.
Uh, I can’t imagine what it would be like not to be with him.
It is very hard for me to see how Bryan’s stressed out
He seems to be a little bit more closed.
Um, I think he has a lot of stuff on his mind.
All the stuff that’s going on with Bryan,
I like to tend to only think of the good stuff.
And, um, (VOICE BREAKING) the fact that he would be gone for 20 years,
I don’t even wanna think about it.
Because I love him with all my heart.
So I just got an email from the prosecutor
who has actually filed a motion in this case
to prohibit me from talking about Bryan’s military experience.
This could be incredibly damaging to our defense
because I wanted to show the jury
that Bryan is a highly-trained marksman.
He wasn’t just recklessly firing off shots.
-(PHONE RINGING) -BRYAN: Hello.
BRYAN: Yeah.
(LISA SPEAKING)
It sounds like they’re trying to fix the game to me,
which is bull (BLEEP).
(LISA SPEAKING)
(SIGHING) All right.
(LISA SPEAKING)
BRYAN: Bye.
Furious. Absolutely furious.
I think that’s bull (BLEEP).
Without my training, I definitely would not have taken that shot.
Seeing the state try to do these underhanded things,
and try to, try to rig it,
I basically feel like my country is against me.
LISA: Bryan genuinely believed
that he was actively trying to prevent
having a reckless person get back on the road
when he shot into the back tire of the alleged victim.
So I’m meeting with my investigator, Eric,
to see if there’s someone that is gonna
corroborate Bryan’s story,
that his actions were justified.
LISA: Here’s the first one.
LISA: So when you hear the blue car and the white...
Alleged victim and the white is,
-uh, Bryan? -Bryan’s.
Bryan Lee’s. Okay.
Right, and that’s huge because that’s what
Bryan’s been saying all along.
He said that this guy caused the crash.
Now we have an independent person
literally saying that the blue car
tried to push the white car into oncoming traffic.
-It doesn’t get more fatal than that. -No, not at all.
ERIC: He even said the driver was trying to get away.
Which you said, what, that’s what Bryan stated earlier?
That’s exactly what Bryan said.
So we have another witness that corroborates
everything that Bryan was saying. So that’s good.
If you think about the other previous callers,
they only see bits and pieces
because they saw it from their cars.
But this caller seems to have seen the beginning and the end.
It sounds like he must have been living close to the scene,
and it’s all consistent with what Bryan is saying.
ERIC: It’s all consistent with what Bryan is saying, exactly.
I’m definitely gonna have to give this guy a call for sure.
This one sounds like he’s the key witness,
so maybe we can get lucky on that.
It would be really helpful if we could track them down.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
The prosecutor argued that Bryan’s military experienc
has to be kept from the jury hearing
because it would make him seem more sympathetic and credible.
However, I think it’s gonna be a lot easier for them
to believe it was reasonable for him to have acted this way
because of his military background,
rather than a regular civilian.
It’s disappointing that the judge has agreed with the prosecution.
However, he’s given us some latitude
in terms of what we can discuss.
I can still talk about his training.
I just can’t mention the military specifically.
Obviously, I want the jury to hear
where the training came from,
and I do think it’s relevant.
And so that could really be a blow to our case.
(PHONE RINGING)
-Hey, Dakota. -DAKOTA: Hey, how you doing?
Just to let you know, I should be there in less than 20 minutes.
I will see you when you get here.
You got it, buddy. Thank you so much.
So where were you exactly
when this whole thing started?
I was sitting on my back porch, which looks out to the road.
I heard tires screech, someone slamming on brakes.
And as I look, I seen a dark car
T-bone a white car, four-door.
ERIC: Okay.
DAKOTA: And the car ran into the ditch.
And from that point forward,
the dark car turned
trying to get away.
Okay.
Where’s the guy in the white car at that point?
-He was running across the street. -Right.
My wife was like, "You know what the hell’s going on?"
I turned to her,
and that’s when I heard the initial shots.
So I called 911 and ran out there.
Right.
So you didn’t even see the shooting?
No, I didn’t.
I didn’t see the initial gunshot itself, no.
But, um, at any given time, did you hear him
-threaten anybody at all? -No.
You heard no one screaming out,
let’s say, you know, "I’m gonna shoot you." Or...
The only words that came out of his mouth was,
"You tried to run. My family was in the car. You mother(BLEEP)!"
He never was like, "You know, I’ll shoot you."
He was nothing like that.
If this goes to trial, are you willing to go to trial
and go on the stand and tell your side of the story?
-Yeah. -Okay. Thank you.
-I appreciate that. -Definitely.
ERIC: Unfortunately, the witness did not see
Mr. Lee actually shoot any firearm.
But what’s important is that aggravated assault, that’s one of the main charges.
So when you have a witness that can testify,
and state that he did not hear anything of that nature,
no threats were made,
that stands out a lot.
It’s very big for the defense side.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
LISA: So I had my private investigator, Eric, speak to the witness,
and he clearly says Bryan is not hostile whatsoever.
However, I received some new evidence
that just came in from the prosecution,
and that could be incredibly damaging
to how the jury perceive him.
So this is a call that you made to Kathleen
from the night police arrested you just after you were booked.
The state attorney just sent me a copy of this,
and I think that they plan on using it
to really paint this as a road rage incident, right?
It’s rage. It’s anger. It’s hostile.
You’re referring to him as a dirtbag.
Some of the jurors might kind of find that strong.
The state’s going to play on that, that you’re angry.
I mean, I am livid, but I haven’t kicked his door in.
Um, okay.
(KATHLEEN SPEAKING)
(BRYAN SPEAKING)
Right here, "I know the law’s, uh, all sorts of funky."
-Why did you say that? -It’s just cops are worthless.
You never get anything good out of the legal system unless you’re a criminal.
But when you start
then poking holes, "Oh, the police didn’t do anything."
Anybody that that doesn’t sit well with, that’s gonna tip the scales
in the other guy’s favor and not yours.
Does that make sense?
(BRYAN SPEAKING)
Explain that.
That’s basically me thinking
my life is in the hands of the American justice system,
and I don’t think they do a very good job,
so I’m probably screwed.
Okay, we’re gonna have to work on how that gets...
because again, I don’t want you saying that on the stand
because that system is right there playing out, and we need it to work.
But if you call them out on the fact that they’re not capable
of doing the right thing, then we don’t stand a chance.
Ultimately, it’s always gonna be your decision, whether or not you testify.
However, if you do testify, you’ve got to be aware of
how you express yourself.
I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to.
-To maintain your cool? -Not even just to maintain my cool,
but to counteract whatever bull(BLEEP) the state throws at me.
LISA: Anytime we have an accused who’s angry or loud,
the prosecution’s gonna go to town on that.
His word choice sometimes,
um, might be offensive to some jurors.
They may be more inclined to think
he’s reckless and aggressive.
So that’s where the, uh, the risk comes in.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
LISA: I’m feeling confident, yet there’s so many unknowns.
I think, Bryan’s looking forward
to be able to truly tell his side of the story now
in front of the jury, and prove his innocence.
JUDGE: Parties may be seated, thanks.
We are on the record, The State of Florida v. Bryan Anthony Lee.
In just a moment, the attorneys will give an opening statement.
Do listen closely to their arguments,
they’re intended to give you an aid
or a guide as to what they believe
the evidence will show or fail to show.
Miss Jones, whenever you’re ready.
Rodney Tello was driving to his friend’s house.
He was involved in a car accident.
As a result of that car accident,
Mr. Bryan Lee got out of his car
to confront Rodney Tello,
takes out a semi-automatic firearm,
and says, "Stop or I will shoot you."
He then proceeds to shoot several rounds at the car.
At the conclusion of this trial,
I’m confident that you will find
the defendant guilty as charged.
Bryan Lee did what he had been trained to do, to disable the vehicle
so that no one else’s life could be in danger.
Now, the State’s gonna try to paint a picture
that this was some sort of a road rage incident.
You’re gonna see that the only road-rager,
the only reckless driver was Rodney Tello.
Once you see the evidence in this case,
you’ll understand why Mr. Lee is simply not guilty.
JUDGE: Thank you, Miss Figueroa.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
we are going to recess for the day,
and we will see you tomorrow at 10:15.
We had opening statements just after jury selection.
It’s still kind of hard to read where the jury’s head is at.
Tomorrow, the state is planning on putting on
the star witness, their alleged victim.
So making sure that the jury sees all the inconsistencies,
it’s gonna be make-or-break for this case.
So today the state is gonna put on its witnesses,
starting with the alleged victim.
I am really worried about how Bryan’s gonna react.
It is really important for him to contain
his frustration and anger because any wrong gesture
could negatively impact how the jury sees this case.
JUDGE: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back.
State, you may call your first witness.
Yes, Your Honor. At this time, the State would call Rodney Tello.
PROSECUTOR: What were you doing on December 26th of 2021?
I was, uh, participating in a golf tournament.
I left in my vehicle.
PROSECUTOR: What color is it?
Blue.
What color was the vehicle that Mr. Lee was driving?
RODNEY: White.
PROSECUTOR: Were you involved in a car accident?
RODNEY: Yes.
What happened next?
Mr. Lee was shouting at me.
And he said, "Stop or I’ll shoot you mother(BLEEP)!"
Then he shot.
I heard three rounds.
PROSECUTOR: Did you hear Mr. Lee call you a racial slur?
RODNEY: Yes, I did.
He called me a stupid (BLEEP).
PROSECUTOR: How did you feel when he fired these shots at you?
Scared.
PROSECUTOR: No further questions, Your Honor.
JUDGE: Cross examination.
You said you were at a golf tournament all that day.
Is there drinking going on?
RODNEY: I had two drinks while I was playing.
Do you recall me interviewing you
and asking you about whether or not you had been drinking that day?
RODNEY: I remember the interview.
I said no.
LISA: And that was an interview,
deposition that was done under oath. Correct?
Um, I believe, I believe so. Yeah.
So, Mr. Tello, leading up to the crash,
did you hit his car into oncoming traffic?
No. He hit me.
Okay. And after the events of the crash,
you testified that Mr. Lee tells you,
I’m gonna shoot you, m-f-er. Is that what you said?
RODNEY: He said, "Stop or I’ll shoot you mother(BLEEP)."
LISA: You didn’t say that on the 911 call, did you?
No.
So the alleged victim now claims that this is somehow
a racial thing, which it never was.
I’m not sure how the jury’s reading it,
but if they really can see the inconsistencies
and the lies throughout, then I am confident
that the jury is going to believe Bryan’s version of events.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
-Did you, um, arrest Mr. Lee because of a car accident? -No.
-Why did you arrest him? -Um, for shooting at a vehicle.
As you spoke with Mr. Tello, did you suspect or detect
-the odor of alcohol? -No.
Defense, cross.
Um, alcohol actually doesn’t have an odor.
-Is that correct? -Yes.
LISA: Did you ever specifically ask Mr. Tello
-if he’d been drinking? -No.
Did he ever indicate anything
-about any racial slur? -No.
All right. I don’t have anything further. Thank you.
LISA: Putting Bryan on the stand is a huge gamble
because the prosecutor is gonna come at him
and focus on the fact
that he took the law into his own hands.
And I really just don’t know how he’s going to respond
when she comes at him like that
Miss Figueroa.
LISA: Your Honor, at this time, the defense would call Bryan Lee.
Where were you going that, that evening?
I was on my way to dinner with my family.
We noticed Mr. Tello,
he was driving pretty erratically.
LISA: What was your main concern?
My intent was to not let this
malicious, presumably intoxicated man
continue to drive his car in such a dangerous manner.
LISA: Do you have any particular training with the use of firearms?
I do have pistol marksmanship training.
LISA: And did you apply that particular insight
and training in this circumstance?
BRYAN: I did, every bit of it.
LISA: Why did you not shoot anywhere else?
Um, I knew that I had to disable this car
and by shooting the back rear tire,
I assessed that would be the best option.
-Did you threaten him? -I did not threaten him.
And did you call him any racial slur?
I did not.
All right. Thank you. I don’t have any further questions.
JUDGE: Thank you. Cross examination?
PROSECUTOR: Yes, Your Honor.
Are you a sworn law enforcement officer
-in Osceola County, Florida, Mr. Lee? -BRYAN: I’m not.
-You crossed the street with your firearm? -Yes.
You pointed the firearm at Mr. Tello’s vehicle,
and you fired. Correct?
BRYAN: Not immediately. Escalation of force.
I tried without the gun.
I tried with the gun in hand.
Those weren’t working, so...
So you have the authority to tell Mr. Tello
to stop driving his vehicle. Correct?
BRYAN: I’d say so.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
-Not a law enforcement officer. -Not a law enforcement officer.
PROSECUTOR: No further questions.
LISA: I think that Bryan did a good job,
however, the prosecution says,
"Do you think you had the authority?"
And he says, "Yes."
What he really meant to say is that he felt a duty to do it,
rather than this authority.
That I’m gonna have some cleaning up to do.
All rise for the jury, please.
Can you tell us why you called 911?
Um, I saw a blue car hit the back of a white car
and it spun to the other side of the road.
LISA: So the blue car pushed the white car into oncoming traffic.
Yes.
And, um, at any point, did law enforcement
get a statement from you about what you saw?
-No. -LISA: Okay.
Nothing further. Thank you.
Defense would call Dakota Gill.
Just walk us through what you saw or what you observed.
The dark-colored SUV hit the back of the white car
and pushed it into, like a ditch.
LISA: Did you see anyone attempt to leave the scene?
The dark-colored SUV.
-Did you overhear any threats? -No, ma’am.
Okay. I have nothing further.
All through this process, the prosecution keeps painting this,
that Bryan manufactured this whole thing
and that he started the crash,
but we have independent witnesses
that clearly state that the alleged victim
was the one who pushed Bryan into oncoming traffic,
and that’s what made it so dangerous.
PROSECUTOR: Members of the jury,
we only have to prove these charges.
Shooting at, within, or into an occupied vehicle
and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
We don’t have to prove, for example,
who caused a car accident,
and we don’t even have to prove
who was or may not have been intoxicated.
The defendant himself told you that he shot a firearm
at Mr. Tello’s vehicle,
and that it was done intentionally.
Another thing that you may wanna consider is that Mr. Lee told you
that he did not call Mr. Tello a racial slur.
So let’s take a little listen.
The defendant clearly says, "You stupid (BLEEP)."
He told you he didn’t do that.
So if he was to lie to you about that, what else is he lying about?
I’m gonna ask that you find the defendant guilty
as charged on all counts. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
this case boils down to credibility.
Mr. Tello simply is not credible.
His story is completely contradicted
by independent witnesses who called 911 right away.
And unfortunately, law enforcement failed to follow up with them.
Mr. Lee was asked, if he had the authority
to do what he did.
In that moment, what he felt was a sense of duty
to act, to prevent any harm to any other person.
The only true and legal rightful verdict in this case is not guilty.
LISA: All of a sudden, in their final closing argument
the prosecution bring up the fact
that what they think they heard was the racial slur.
Bryan insists that it was just an expletive,
not anything having to do with race.
I can’t call Bryan back on the stand at this point.
We just have to hope the jury can tell that that is not what he said.
Right now, everything’s on the line.
If they come back, guilty as charged,
he could face up to 20 years.
Oh, I’m pretty, pretty anxious right now.
Whole life’s relying on six people I never met before.
Members of the jury, the court has been made aware
that you have reached a verdict.
FOREPERSON: Yes, Your Honor.
State of Florida v. Bryan Anthony Lee.
Verdict as to count one, shooting at, within, or into an occupied vehicle,
we, the jury, find the defendant...
guilty.
Verdict as to count two.
Guilty of the lesser included offense
of improper exhibition of a firearm.
Verdict as to count three.
Guilty of improper exhibition of a firearm
as charged in the information.
JUDGE: The Jury has made a determination.
Mr. Lee is going to be taken into custody.
I’ll keep an open mind, uh, regarding sentencing.
Um... That’ll conclude our trial.
LISA: I feel for Bryan and his family.
He really thought he was doing the right thing.
The judge has a lot of latitude in the sentencing.
So I do have a glimmer of hope
because he was clear
that he would keep an open mind, and that is significant.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
BAILIFF: Come to order, the court is back in session.
JUDGE: Mr. Lee is here for sentencing. He was found guilty
by a jury of shooting at, within or into an occupied vehicle.
That’s a second-degree felony.
And improper exhibition of a firearm
as a lesser included defense
and a similar charge of improper exhibition of a firearm in count three.
State is often faced with, uh, difficult situations and decisions.
One category is unreasonable people
making unreasonable decisions.
The second category is reasonable people
uh, making a momentary unreasonable decision,
I felt from the presentation of the evidence
that, uh, Mr. Lee, uh, falls into the second category.
But he was found guilty of a second-degree felony.
I’m gonna sentence you to 30 days in the Osceola County Jail.
As to count two, you are adjudicated guilty,
which is the second-degree misdemeanor.
You’re sentenced to seven days with credit for seven days.
I’m hopeful that these are not
life-changing consequences. Good luck to you, sir.
I love you, Dad.
MITCH: Obviously overwhelmed, um...
I’m thankful that the judge did show compassion, um...
It’s not exactly what we wanted.
But it’s way better than what they were trying to throw at him.
So, um, I’m thankful for that.
LISA: I think it’s definitely heartbreaking for Bryan
to accept the fact that he’s now a convicted felon.
But ultimately the most important thing to him
was knowing that he would be able to return to his family,
and now he’s gonna be able to do that.
And I’m confident that he’s gonna be able to find a way forward.