Insanity Defense Expected In Broward School Lockdown Case
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) -- A South Florida woman whose emails and phone calls prompted the lockdown of all Broward County public schools last November is planning an insanity defense.
Court papers filed Tuesday indicate that 48-year-old Ellisa Martinez suffered brain injury in a 1997 car accident and has had neurological problems ever since. Her attorney says Martinez was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her acts. She's charged with Interstate Communication of a Threat to injure another.
The FBI says Martinez sent WFTL 850 AM conservative radio talk show host Joyce Kaufman e-mails on Nov. 10 warning something big was going to happen, possibly at a school. The e-mail also mentioned gun rights and the 2nd Amendment. Later, a woman called the Pompano Beach radio station to say her husband was going to shoot up a school in Pembroke Pines, according to federal authorities who traced the call.
Authorities responded by placing all 300 Broward County schools, with about 275,000 students, on lockdown for several hours.
Martinez pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
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