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Man found guilty again of shooting Cape Coral police officer in retrial

Reporter: Annalise Iraola
Published: Updated:

The verdict is in on the third day of the retrial of a man convicted of shooting a Cape Coral police officer.

Yousel Rivera was found guilty on one count of attempted first-degree premeditated murder of law enforcement officer David Wagoner Thursday afternoon.

Rivera was 19 when this occurred.

Rivera sat quietly, looking forward, as the verdict was read.

The courtroom followed the judge’s instructions, and there were no outbursts of emotion after it was announced. It only took jurors two hours to reach the decision.

“Relief, this has been a very long time coming. The Wagoner family has needed this for a very long time, going on 13 years. There’s a lightness and that feels really good,” said Stephanie Russell, Wagoner’s attorney.

“Been a very long hard fought battle, and we left it in the hands of the jurors, and they got it right,” said Abe Thornburg, Wagoner’s attorney.

The jury agreed Rivera pulled the trigger three times during a traffic stop in Cape Coral in 2011.

The officer took all three slugs to the chest and lower abdomen and survived.

Rivera was sentenced to life in prison in 2011 in an initial trial, but the sentence was overturned after the judge presiding over the trial failed to give instructions to the jury regarding whether Rivera knew he was shooting a police officer.

Rivera is being held without bond until sentencing.

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