Former Miami Dolphin Jonathan Martin checked into a mental treatment following his arrest. (Photo by Ron Elkman/Sports Imagery/ Getty Images)
Jonathan Martin, the former Miami Dolphins lineman who was arrested after posting a threatening image on social media, has pled not guilty to the charges against him.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office told ESPN that Martin surrendered at a Van Nuys, Calif., court on a warrant for his arrest Tuesday, March 20. There, he pled not guilty to four felony counts of making criminal threats and one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle in a March 13 incident.
The charges came weeks after Martin posted a photo on his Instagram story with a shotgun and pellets surrounding it. Tagged in the image were his former Miami Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey. The two had been the subjects of a bullying investigation that resulted in Pouncey and Incognito being found responsible for creating a hostile work environment. Martin was traded to the San Franciso 49ers and Incognito was suspended.
The hashtags, #MiamiDolphins and his high school alma mater, #HarvardWestlake in Los Angeles were also included.
“When you’re a bully victim and a coward, your options are suicide or revenge,” he wrote in the caption on Friday, Feb. 23, the same day he was detained by police.
The image led Harvard Westlake to be placed on lockdown for the day and on Thursday, March 1, the school filed a workplace-violence-prevention restraining order against Martin.
Days after he made the post, TMZ reported Martin had checked into a mental health facility.
The lineman has struggled with mental health in the past, admitting he had attempted to take his own life and lamenting how he didn’t fit in at Harvard Westlake as a biracial student.
Martin, who faces up to six years in prison if he’s convicted, is due back in court April 25 for a preliminary hearing.
