FLORIDA (NewsNation Now) — A tossed bag of popcorn — or more specifically, the actions taken before it was thrown — could play a pivotal role in the trial of a Tampa police captain who fatally shot another man in a Florida movie theater.

Curtis Reeves is accused of killing Chad Oulson in a Wesley Chapel theater during a 2014 showing of the Mark Wahlberg film “Lone Survivor.”

Reeves said he asked Oulson to put away his cellphone before the movie was about to start. When Oulson refused, Reeves went to complain to management. When Oulson learned that Reeves was talking to management about him, he reached over his seat and dumped out Reeves’ popcorn. That’s when Reeves opened fire.

“That reaction time between the popcorn being thrown and the gun being taken out, I believe is the whole case right there,” “Law and Crime” anchor Jesse Weber told NewsNation’s Dan Abrams.

Reports state that there was a fairly heated exchange between the two men before the popcorn was thrown.

Reeves, who faces a potential life sentence if convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, claimed he shot Oulson in self-defense.

Weber said that at the end of the day, it’s going to be a question of if Reeves had reasonable belief that he was in danger.

“He didn’t have to wait for Chad Oulson to throw a punch at him,” Weber said.

On Monday, Reeves’ wife testified at the trial that she didn’t see what happened.

“It does raise the question of what is going to happen now,” Weber said. “She was the closest person to him and she was his biggest ally.”

Reeves’ wife’s testimony now leaves the jury with the possibility that something did happen, but that she might not have seen it, Weber said.

“Does he now need to take the stand to fill in some of the gaps that she didn’t see?” Weber asked.

The general manager who was working at the theater during the incident said during a direct examination that Reeves did not seem to be angry or frustrated when they spoke. Although the general manager admitted he did not quite remember his encounter with Reeves, from what he did recall, the former police captain seemed polite.

“It’s small, but it’s trying to support the defense’s theory that their client wasn’t the aggressor in all of this,” Weber said. “I think the jury’s going go back, they’re going to look at that surveillance footage of that shooting … and determine: were his actions reasonable?”

Prosecution contends that Reeves was never in physical danger and should be held accountable for murder.