Evidence still being filed in airport shooting case
Prosecutors handling the case against a man accused of fatally shooting five people and wounding six others at Fort Lauderdale’s international airport are still turning over massive amounts of evidence to the defense, they said in court on Friday.
In the coming weeks, they plan to hand over electronic evidence from computers and phones used by Esteban Santiago before the Jan. 6 mass shooting.
Both sides said they are still interviewing numerous potential witnesses who may have information about the shooting and Santiago’s state of mind.
The defense team, from the Federal Public Defender’s office, said Santiago, 27, is continuing to take medication for schizophrenia and schizo affective disorder. They said his condition appears to have stabilized and he remains legally competent to stand trial.
Santiago, who has appeared very subdued during all of his court hearings, seemed a little more engaged in court on Friday. He spoke quietly with his lawyers and looked around the courtroom. His beard has grown out more. Hewas handcuffed, shackled and dressed in beige and brown jail scrubs.
Prosecutors said they are still interviewing “hundreds of witnesses” from all over the country who were in the airport. Some of the witnesses have recently handed over smart phone video footage they filmed in the airport, authorities said.
Though a tentative trial date was scheduled for early October in federal court in Miami, everyone involved in the case has said it will be postponed to sometime next year. That’s because the U.S. Department of
Justice goes through a detailed and lengthy review of all the evidence before deciding if prosecutors will seek the death penalty or life in federal prison for Santiago.
The process includes reviewing a package that will be prepared by the defense team, which will argue against seeking the death penalty.
U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom scheduled the next status hearing in Santiago’s case for June 9 to allow the defense enough time to go through the evidence the FBI has extracted from Santiago’s electronic devices.
The judge asked Santiago in court if he understood the reasons for the delays in his case.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Santiago replied.
Santiago is an Iraq war veteran who was born in New Jersey, grew up in Puerto Rico and lived in Alaska before the mass shooting.
Two months before the shooting, Santiago went to the FBI office in Anchorage and asked agents for help. He said his mind was being controlled by the government. Santiago was briefly hospitalized for psychiatric treatment but was released and his gun was returned to him.
In January, Santiago booked a flight to Fort Lauderdale and checked one item of luggage, a small hard-sided case containing his gun and ammunition, on the Delta flight. After picking up the case, hewent into a stall in the men’s room, loaded the gun and started shooting fellow passengers near the baggage carousel as he walked out of the restroom.
He has pleaded not guilty to 22 federal charges linked to the Jan. 6 shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Prosecutors have not filed any terrorism-related charges though agents said Santiago initially told them, after his arrest, that he acted under government mind control. Later, he said he was inspired by Islamic State terrorist groups.