Lawyers: Peterson can’t be faulted if state blames Israel
Motion asks for charges against MSD school resource officer to be dropped
Former Broward Deputy Scot Peterson can’t be held criminally responsible for failing to stop the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School because the state has already pinned the blame on his boss, ousted Sheriff Scott Israel, Peterson’s lawyers argued Tuesday.
In a motion asking Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein to dismiss criminal charges against Peterson, his lawyers said the state can’t blame the vilified school resource officer for following training that was later deemed inadequate. The argument was first advanced by state Sen. Lauren Book, who voted against upholding Israel’s suspension.
“This is exactly what I warned against on the Senate floor,” Book said Tuesday. “As a result of wrongfully removing the sheriff, the man second most culpable for the murder of 17 innocent individuals — a cowardly accomplice to murder — may walk free and receive his pension.”
Peterson, 56, was charged in June with multiple counts of child neglect with bodily harm, culpable negligence and perjury, stemming from his alleged failure to engage Nikolas Cruz during the Parkland school shooting and the sworn statements he made to defend his inaction.
While the shooting was going on inside the school, Peterson took cover outside, retreating “to an area of safety,” according to the Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, which investigated the law enforcement response to the shooting.
Peterson is the only person other than Cruz to face charges related to the shooting, in which Cruz killed 17 and injured 17 more.
“If Israel improperly trained his deputies, then Peterson was improperly trained,” said defense lawyer Joseph DiRuzzo. “Israel failed to supervise and properly train. The buck stops with him. Peterson cannot be prosecuted.”
The attorneys argued that Peterson followed an active shooter policy that did not require him to “engage and exchange gunfire” with Cruz. “Florida law places sole responsibility for the actions and any allegations of negligence on the part of BSO employees on Israel,” Peterson’s attorneys wrote.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the defense motion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Israel in January as one of his first acts in office, criticizing the sheriff for his handling of the shootings at Stoneman Douglas and, a year earlier, at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The state Senate voted last week to uphold the suspension, over the objections of Broward’s senators. Among them was Book, who warned her colleagues that dismissing Israel would formally let Peterson off the hook.
The lawyer representing
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter was killed in the Stoneman Douglas shooting, disagreed.
“Israel was suspended for multiple reasons, only one of which was his failure on the active shooter training,” said David Brill, Pollack’s lawyer.
Besides, Peterson testified in depositions that he knew that his duty was to go in and confront the shooter if he knew where the shooter was, Brill said.
Peterson is set to appear next on Nov. 13 before Judge Fein.