No trial date set in Wesley Chapel movie theater shooting

No trial date was set Wednesday for the man accused of fatally shooting another man in a Pasco County movie theater earlier this year.

Curtis Reeves Jr. appeared in court Wednesday for a hearing about his trial date. The 71-year-old retired police officer looked much thinner and more frail when he entered court.  His attorney said Reeves is struggling behind bars.

Reeves is facing a second-degree murder charge in the Jan. 13 shooting death of Chad Oulson. Police said Reeves shot and killed Oulson during an argument over text messaging in a Wesley Chapel movie theater.

Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa assured Reeves and his team that he is trying to expedite the trial, but no date could be set as both the state and the defense said they need more time to go over discovery and depose witnesses, tasks they say will take them well into the fall.

Two more pre-trial hearings have been set as a result. One will be held Sept. 10, which is when a trial date may be set, and another will be held Oct. 14 to discuss jury selection and whether either side wants the jury to be sequestered.

Siracusa asked the state if it plans to present Reeves with a plea deal, then asked the defense if it would consider one as well. Both sides made it clear they were not interested.

"There would be a plea deal that would be good enough and that would be that the government realizes that Mr. Reeves is inncocent and they drop all the charges," defense attorney Richard Escobar said.

"It happened and it happened for no reason and at no fault of the victim," Oulson family attorney T.J. Grimaldi said. "He was totally the aggressor and there is no way around this, and to be anything short of a long prison sentence in my opinion would be unjust."

While a trial date was not set, one thing that was made clear during the hearing is that a trial will not happen until early next year.

Grimaldi, who is the attorney for Oulson's widow Nicole, expressed disapointment, but the defense said it needs the time to go over all of the state's evidence to ensure Reeves gets a fair trial.