ORLANDO, Fla. — The downtown Orlando shooter who shot six people, killing one, has cut a deal with the state that will send him to prison for the next 30 years on murder charges.
Police said that in November 2009 Jason Rodriguez went into the Gateway Center, where he used to work, and opened fire.
Otis Beckford, 26, was killed.
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Rodriguez had a history of mental illness. He was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to six life terms.
Earlier this year, a court of appeal reversed the conviction, saying jurors were given the wrong instructions about hallucinations after Rodriguez said in testimony that his brain had been hacked.
WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry, who presided over the case, said he respects the district court’s ruling and that some of the evidence supported the hallucinations.
“So if the defense was going to argue hallucination I felt that instruction should have been given, and if they didn’t argue it, in my mind, it would not have been harmful,” Perry said. “The sentence of 30 years is a great compromise for both sides. It keeps Mr. Rodriguez locked away for the next 30 years and he does not have to be retried.”
Rodriguez also pleaded to counts of attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years with a 25-year minimum mandatory to run concurrently.
He was credited with time served.
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