TAVARES — A man who wrestled a Taser from a policewoman and shot her faces up to 45 years in prison after he pleaded no contest to aggravated battery on a law-enforcement officer and other charges.
Ricky Moriani, 64, will be sentenced next month by Circuit Judge Mark Nacke.
Moriani, who was shot and wounded after he temporarily incapacitated Officer Theresa Graham with her department-issued Taser, has been in the Lake County Jail since Dec. 18, 2009, when he was discharged from the hospital.
He had wrestled the Taser from Graham and shot her before she wounded him with her service weapon.
A state attorney's review of the incident found that Graham used "reasonable and justified" deadly force to protect herself and others outside the Dollar Tree in the Eustis Square shopping center, where the incident occurred Oct. 26, 2009.
The incident was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Graham arrived at the store about 12:45 p.m. after Moriani called police to help him return a set of keys to his ex-girlfriend, a store employee. He previously was issued a trespass letter forbidding him from entering the store.
Four minutes later, Graham radioed for help. Moriani had insisted on personally handing the keys to his ex-girlfriend and the officer refused to let him in the store. According to court documents, Moriani handed over the keys, then shoved the officer. Graham drew her Taser and Moriani grabbed it.
Witnesses said he yanked the electrical device from the officer's grasp, turned it on and fired it. The prongs struck Graham in the head and legs and she stumbled backwards, falling into a concrete post. According to court documents, Moriani then walked toward the fallen officer, pointing the Taser at her head. She then drew her gun and shot Moriani in the stomach and the leg.
A bystander asked Graham for the gun so he could "finish" Moriani
