FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jurors deliberating the fate of former Parkland school resource Deputy Scot Peterson will have to decide whether a school resource officer, or SRO, is a caregiver.
After Scot Peterson, 60, was charged with child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury following the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Broward County prosecutors said that the culpable negligence and child neglect charges wouldn’t usually apply to first responders, but under Florida law, a school resource officer is a caregiver and could be liable if there was “no reasonable effort” to protect the minors on campus.
As a person responsible for a child’s welfare in Florida, prosecutors say a school resource officer’s duty is “to make a reasonable effort to protect a child from abuse, neglect, or exploitation by another person.”
“His only assignment everyday was the welfare of those kids,” Assistant State Attorney Kristen Gomes said during closing arguments Monday. “Scot Peterson was the only police officer on that day that was officially assigned, clearly delineated ‘caregiver’ for the children at MSD. No other officers who arrived on scene had any caregiver obligation as it relates to this statute.”
…to include role as mentor, duty to protect kids on campus, and it is what parents expect when they drop their kids off at school. This is the definition of ‘caregiver’ the Judge said will be provided to the jury. https://t.co/JAe2yln2Qq https://t.co/p3zyxuLrg7 pic.twitter.com/9Q5Pf3JFHG
— Christina Boomer Vazquez, M.S. (@CBoomerVazquez) June 23, 2023
Peterson’s defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh, however, said his client was not a caregiver and said to call him one “is ludicrous.”
“He’s not a caregiver, he’s a police officer, and he is assigned to the school pursuant to that contract, but he is not there to make sure their bellies are full and that they are hydrated properly -- that idea is ludicrous,” Eiglarsh said. “He was damned no matter what. He couldn’t win. Facts don’t matter when we are sacrificed. Scot Peterson was sacrificed. He was thrown under the bus and it continues right now.”
Former state and federal prosecutor David Weinstein, who is not involved in the case, told Local 10 News that this is a particularly unique case since typically a caregiver for a child would be considered a parent or guardian.
“We’ve all seen cases where someone, it is readily evident that they were a caregiver for a child -- whether it’s an adult, a parent, a guardian, that direct custodian, and they were in the same room, hands on with a child. And it was their neglect of that child as a caregiver that resulted in injury or death to that child,” Weinstein said. “What the state’s done here is extended that argument. They’re now saying that a school resource officer -- not just a police officer, but rather a school resource officer -- someone whose assigned duty was to be on the campus, and to ensure the safety and well-being of the students -- that he’s a caregiver, just like anyone else would be considered a caregiver, and that his inaction, his failure to take steps to put his thought process and his life on the line to go in and find out what was going on -- that his failure to do that violated his duty as a caregiver -- that he didn’t use a prudent and reasonable analysis of what was going on. And that as a direct result of that, the students died and that he violated his duty as a caregiver.”
On Tuesday, jurors submitted a question to the judge, asking if they could view evidence, including “any and all available poster sized evidence introduced during the trial by the defense and prosecution” and “any and all visual aids used during the trial presentation by defense and prosecution.”
The judge, however, informed the jury that they are already in possession of everything that was submitted into evidence. The visual aids were not considered evidence.
“The jurors seem to be wondering where exactly Scot Peterson was standing during the active shooting,” Weinstein said. “To me, that means the jurors have moved past the caregiver issue and are now focusing on the culpable negligence reasonable efforts issue they have to decide.”
Peterson is not charged in connection with those killed or injured on the first floor of the building as he did not reach the building until the gunman reached the third floor. No injuries or deaths occurred on the second floor.
Peterson is charged with seven counts of felony child neglect for four underage students killed and three wounded on the third floor.
Peterson arrived at the building with his gun drawn 73 seconds before Cruz reached that floor, but instead of entering, he backed away as gunfire sounded. He has said he didn’t know where the shots were coming from.
Peterson is also charged with three counts of misdemeanor culpable negligence for the adults shot on the third floor, including a teacher and an adult student who died. He also faces a perjury charge for allegedly lying to investigators.
Peterson could be sentenced to nearly a century in prison if convicted on the child neglect counts and lose his $104,000 annual pension.