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Marine Andre Anthony Rivera arrested for self defense

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w8ng4msrgt

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Judge Frees Marine Who Says Sword Attack Was Self-Defense


By THOMAS W. KRAUSE
The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 18, 2008

Updated:

TAMPA - A man charged with using a sword to attack his girlfriend's former husband was released on his own recognizance Tuesday pending resolution of his case.

The reason?

The defendant, Andre Anthony Rivera, is a decorated Marine and Iraq war veteran who says the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrested the wrong guy. He says he was acting in self-defense.

Judge Walter Heinrich said the case has two distinct stories, one told by Rivera and one provided to deputies by the former husband.

"For the purposes of today's hearing and the things I see, I'm going to choose to believe your story," Heinrich told Rivera's attorney Tuesday. "Maybe in the future, it might bear out differently, but he has earned the respect."

Initially, Rivera, 36, was held without the possibility of bail. Heinrich's decision allowed Rivera's release on his own recognizance. He is allowed to report to active duty in Arizona, where he is stationed.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said officials were looking into the arrest and the judge's decision, but were not able to comment immediately.

In court, Rivera's girlfriend told the judge that she was in fear for her life and Rivera helped her.

Nadia Reynolds testified that she and Rivera went to her former in-law's Ruskin house on Thursday morning to pick up her children. When she got there, she was told that the children were in a mobile home behind the house with their father. Reynolds told the judge that she did not realize the children's father, Jeremy David "J.D." Reynolds, was living there.

Nadia Reynolds told the judge that she went into the trailer upset and sent the children outside, where Rivera buckled them into the car.

A sheriff's report states that Rivera then came into the trailer uninvited and grappled with J.D. Reynolds. Rivera grabbed a sword that was mounted on the wall and cut Reynolds in the arm, severely wounding him, the report states. When Reynolds went to get a shotgun for protection, Rivera grabbed the gun and left, the report states.

Nadia Reynolds said that is not true.

After she sent the children outside, she testified Tuesday, J.D. Reynolds pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and pointed it at her. She said she screamed for Rivera.

Marine Instincts Kicked In

Rivera's attorney, Nestor Castillo, told the judge that Rivera came inside, saw the gun and reacted.

"His instincts as a Marine kicked in, and he attacked," Castillo said.

Rivera, Castillo said, did grab a sword off the wall, but he would have grabbed anything to aid his attempt to disarm J.D. Reynolds.

The gun fell to the floor, and both men scrambled for it, Castillo said. Rivera won the struggle. Rivera and Nadia Reynolds immediately went to the sheriff's office, told their story and handed over the gun. Rivera was arrested at his home Thursday afternoon.

"They cooperated fully," Castillo said. "Then, he got arrested. Frankly, I don't understand it and we're going to vigorously defend it."

Castillo said Reynolds is a convicted felon, from a 1997 charge that he disturbed contents of a grave. Convicted felons are not allowed to possess guns and sawed-off shotguns are illegal.

A Marine colonel wrote a letter to the judge to vouch for Rivera, saying Rivera won a Bronze Star in 2004 for helping to evacuate more than 100 people while under fire in Iraq.

Should this case go to trial, Rivera would not be a flight risk, Castillo said.

"His character, his integrity, his entire background tells this court that he will answer the call of the court," Castillo said. "He will be here."

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this is why I believe our judicial system to be flawed. The convicted felon should be the one being prosecuted, not the Marine. I'm sorry, and I will probably get groaned for it, but if he was trying to defend someone then he was right to do it.


~ceisdsgil

Am I the only one that sees the soulful look in his eyes?
 
A marine with a witness on his side vs a guy living in a trailer in his parents backyard, with swords mounted on the wall.

I'll go with the marine.
 
Not surprising, as a daughter of a Marine, I'd be for the Marine in this case. When their instincts kick in, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

And I'd have to agree with the judicial system being quite flawed. They get hard ons about chalking up a conviction, more so than finding out what REALLY happened.
 
I'll definitely throw in on the side of the marine. Why in the world was he even arrested in the first place when he and the mother were the first to report it. If it happened like the "father" said, he should have gone straight to a hospotal at which time the cops would have been called and he could make a report...
 
I never saw these comments before. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I was always innocent and the police incompetent but ultimately the prosecution dropped all charges. What they don't mention is that I drove directly to the police station with HIS sawed off shotgun, my girlfriend walked in (I didn't want to as I was bloodied and didn't think it would be a good idea) and they waved her off and told her to wait home, can you believe that? Its a fact. Today I am successful and work for the government in the field of biometrics and forensics. To this day I wonder why they did not conduct exploitation of the trailer to collect forensic evidence, everything I claimed would have aligned with the evidence. Update is everyone is doing great, the kids are happy, grown and everyone safe. The felon never changed, he attempted to acquire custody of his children (but only to get out of child support which he pays a fraction of, as little as possible, just enough not to get jailed) but in court he lost terribly as he is a heroin and crack user, dealer and criminal.
 
An update from the man himself! Don't see that very often. Best of luck brother, 11 years in the Corps myself and glad to hear things mostly worked out your way.
 
Yep, from one OIF and OEF vet to another, glad to hear the situation got cleared up. Glad it didn't affect ur military record. And thank u for ur service to our country and Congrats on the Bronze Star!
I've always thought POSes like this guy should be the bullet catchers on our front lines. Use them as shields, I say.
 
Hi Andre, thanks for stopping by and telling your story. We're still stunned that the shitstain who calls himself a father did not go to jail on weapons and assault charges. Funny how they don't want much to do with their kids until they think about the child support. Sorry for all that you and the family have been through.

And of course thank you for your service to our country. I have a soft spot for vets.
 
Andre Anthony Rivera said:
I never saw these comments before. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I was always innocent and the police incompetent but ultimately the prosecution dropped all charges. What they don't mention is that I drove directly to the police station with HIS sawed off shotgun, my girlfriend walked in (I didn't want to as I was bloodied and didn't think it would be a good idea) and they waved her off and told her to wait home, can you believe that? Its a fact. Today I am successful and work for the government in the field of biometrics and forensics. To this day I wonder why they did not conduct exploitation of the trailer to collect forensic evidence, everything I claimed would have aligned with the evidence. Update is everyone is doing great, the kids are happy, grown and everyone safe. The felon never changed, he attempted to acquire custody of his children (but only to get out of child support which he pays a fraction of, as little as possible, just enough not to get jailed) but in court he lost terribly as he is a heroin and crack user, dealer and criminal.
Click to expand...
And um, this is a current picture, cause RAWR.
 
Andre Anthony Rivera said:
I never saw these comments before. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I was always innocent and the police incompetent but ultimately the prosecution dropped all charges. What they don't mention is that I drove directly to the police station with HIS sawed off shotgun, my girlfriend walked in (I didn't want to as I was bloodied and didn't think it would be a good idea) and they waved her off and told her to wait home, can you believe that? Its a fact. Today I am successful and work for the government in the field of biometrics and forensics. To this day I wonder why they did not conduct exploitation of the trailer to collect forensic evidence, everything I claimed would have aligned with the evidence. Update is everyone is doing great, the kids are happy, grown and everyone safe. The felon never changed, he attempted to acquire custody of his children (but only to get out of child support which he pays a fraction of, as little as possible, just enough not to get jailed) but in court he lost terribly as he is a heroin and crack user, dealer and criminal.
Click to expand...
Thanks for coming here and showing everyone that FLORIDA has good, brave and SEXAYYY men.;)
 
Wow, closest to home as any story I've seen on the DD. I've lived in Ruskin, and it's a teeny little nothing town.

Glad to see it was GOOD news, and that we still have some men around here that are actually MEN... serving their country, defending their women, and doing the right thing.

Also, I've seen Judge Heinrich in court (many years ago, supporting an idiot friend I used to have). He had a reputation as a hard ass, and was about the last judge my friend wanted to land, but he struck me as fair and reasonable. Apparently that hasn't changed.
 
I moved from AZ to FL here in Tampa, it's a great town. The comments felt good to hear, you have no idea how terrible and ashamed it felt seeing myself on the news in an orange jumpsuit after leading Marines in combat and spending a total of 4 years in Iraq. I survived driving in a humvee with no doors or any armor protection in iraq 2003, my 7 man team were all decorated for combat actions, we were always out on a run somewhere. Out of the wire, away from the base. And all I could think of right afterwards was here I am lying dead at the hands of some felon crack head in a trailer somewhere in Florida and I've only been back in the U.S. about a year and a half.

I am no longer with my girlfriend, but we still love each other on a platonic level and I care for her dearly. The children may not be biologicaly mine, but they are mine forever. For almost 10 years I was father in everyway and still am and always will be. Not just by paying for everything but advocating at school and studying with them and teaching them values and my ethos, which I learned serving my country for over a decade in the Corps and a decade for the Department of Defense in the field of Biometrics and Forensics. I treated them and still treat them as if they are my own. Again, thank you for the nice comments.

Andre


PS I hate that picture of me because they took the picture slanted and it makes me look like Im tilted with an attitude or something. Not the case, Im standing straight as an arrow.
 
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www.freerauliglesias.com

If anyone wants to hear a very tragic story of a man who is a true hero in every sense of he word. Read Raul Iglesias Story.

He was decorated by the City of Miami Police with a Medal of Honor and Purple Heart. And of was decorated with a Navy Achievment Medal with "V" device for valor in combat.

He was my trusted gunner and charged danger when others ran. He was our protector on the big gun, overwatching us everywhere we went with the M240 "Gulf."

Please spread his story...

Andre
 
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Andre Anthony Rivera said:
If anyone wants to hear a very tragic story of a man who is a true hero in every sense of he word. Read Raul Iglesias Story.
Click to expand...
Hi Andre, nice to see you back again.
You are welcome to start a thread, I would put it in "General" or "Past Crimes". But to do that, you need to cite your sources or no one will have any interest. I looked around a lot and all I could find were articles indicating his guilt. I did see that he posted the contents of the audio from two of the witnesses against him and got a contempt charge for that? Was he sentenced on that yet? It would be interesting to know why the judged would not let them be made public. Getting a transcript of the audio would be even better.

It would be interesting to know why it took so long to go to trial. What did the FBI have? The articles I read state that when they wired the other detective originally, they didn't get any incriminating evidence.

Do you have links to articles showing that the witnesses against him are themselves corrupt?

At this point it is hard to see why we should be concerned about this guy. Other than you vouch for him and we think you're awesome. A lot of people come to DD, though. If you have something compelling, please get the ball rolling and we can get behind you.
 
So, we're neighbors, sort of. I live north of Jacksonville.
But anyway, at least you know for sure there are some of us who support you.
 
Again thank you for the support!

Regarding the US Marine Hero SGT Iglesias. There is audio! And its on the net! You can compare the report to the transcripts or listen to the audio itself. Its boring and uneventful but the end state is clear. The two stories are very different. These cops have been thrown off the force, yet their testimony landed Raul Iglesias in prison. And the aforementioned transcripts prove that these cops had done this before, this was their Modus Operandi (MO). The audio (what they actually said) contradicts what they reported and it resulted in prison time for a previous victim. Raul should not be in prison, he is a City of Miami PD Medal of Honor recipient, a Purple Heart recipient and a Marine Corps Navy Achievement Medal with "V" for combat heroism, who had a impeccable clean record in both the Police Department and the Marine Corps. I know I was his Team Chief! In the Police Department it was almost so clean that it was strange. But I know Raul, he is a nice guy, a sincerely considerate man. Like a knight or a Paladin. I could see him arresting people and just talking to them respectably and just like a friend. I know he would never take any pleasure in hurting or ruining someones life by arresting them. He just wanted to be the hero the reliable guy you can trust. That's what makes this all so much more miserable and absurd. The fact that his innocence is so certain and the ones that testified against have all since been thrown off the force or in jail.

Andre

PS Im going to track down the audio...I used to have a link to it on the website, but since they went after Raul for posting things online, my attorneys recommended I dont link them. But via email or other avenues I will disseminate it!
 
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Andre
Thank you for serving your Country and keeping all of us safe!
I have always wanted to be a Marine but they won't take me for my back problems :(

For your friend, is there a petition started to have him freed? Because I am very sure is you spread the story and make the proof of his innocence known, enough people will sign the petition and hopefully he will be set free.
I hope he is doing ok and safe, I hope he finds some form of peace there whether it be in his head or in a book.

Again Thank you for serving your Country! We all appreciate it more than words can explain!
 
Caveman said:
Yep, we'd stop on the way to put our boat in cockroach bay. We also went to a lot of movies there. If we couldn't find a babysitter, we even watched a few.
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Ooh, I used to love going to Cockroach Bay with my parents on their boat! Such a terrible name for such a nice place lol

It's been a couple of years since I've seen a movie there, but the place still seems to be going strong. There's a line down 41 to get in on the weekends.
 
Andre Anthony Rivera said:
I never saw these comments before. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I was always innocent and the police incompetent but ultimately the prosecution dropped all charges. What they don't mention is that I drove directly to the police station with HIS sawed off shotgun, my girlfriend walked in (I didn't want to as I was bloodied and didn't think it would be a good idea) and they waved her off and told her to wait home, can you believe that? Its a fact. Today I am successful and work for the government in the field of biometrics and forensics. To this day I wonder why they did not conduct exploitation of the trailer to collect forensic evidence, everything I claimed would have aligned with the evidence. Update is everyone is doing great, the kids are happy, grown and everyone safe. The felon never changed, he attempted to acquire custody of his children (but only to get out of child support which he pays a fraction of, as little as possible, just enough not to get jailed) but in court he lost terribly as he is a heroin and crack user, dealer and criminal.
Click to expand...
Welcome to DD and thank you for your service. This is the first time I seen someone commenting on their story on a positive note. Hope you'll stick around for a while! But beware some of these folks on here got the mouth herp.
*cough* not me *cough*
 
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