VAN NUYS >> Former Miami Dolphins player and Harvard-Westlake School alum Jonathan Martin pleaded not guilty Tuesday to criminal threats charges stemming from an Instagram post that led to a daylong shut down of the exclusive Studio City campus.

Jonathan Martin, 28, is facing four felony counts of criminal threats and a misdemeanor count of possessing a loaded firearm. He is due back in court in Van Nuys April 25, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial.

Martin faces up to six years behind bars if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

On Feb. 23, officials with Harvard-Westlake sent an early morning message via the school’s emergency alert notification system advising students to stay home, apologizing for the short notice and citing student safety as the school’s highest priority.

According to online images of the Instagram message, Martin posted a photo of a shotgun with a several shotgun shells, emblazoned with the hashtags #HarvardWestlake and #MiamiDolphins. The text of the post read, “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.”

Martin, who retired in 2015, was at the center of an NFL bullying scandal during his playing days and claimed during that investigation that he had also been bullied at Harvard-Westlake.

The Instagram post tagged former Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey and a pair of former Harvard-Westlake classmates. Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins in 2013 in response to allegations of bullying and harassment — some of it alleged to be racial in nature — targeting Martin. Pouncey was also implicated in the scandal that led to extensive investigations by the NFL and the Dolphins.

Incognito did not play the entire 2014 season, but later signed with the Buffalo Bills, where he still plays.

Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that Martin was detained and briefly hospitalized at a mental health facility after the Instagram post came to light, and he was found with a loaded weapon in a car in Glendale. Detectives searched his home and found other weapons, an ax and a large knife, The Times reported.

Former Miami Dolphins offensive tackle faces up to six years if convicted as charged

Tim Kenneally, provided by

Published 4:01 pm, Tuesday, March 20, 2018

<p>Former Miami Dolphins player Jonathan Martin has been charged with five separate counts after posting a photo of a shotgun on social media last month, a picture that caused the temporary closure of his alma mater high school, Harvard-Westlake in Studio City, California.</p>
<p>According to legal papers obtained by TheWrap, Martin has been charged with four counts of criminal threats, as well as a count of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle in a city — specifically, Glendale, California.</p>
<p>The criminal threats are felony charges, while the firearm charge is a misdemeanor, according to the papers, which state that Martin threatened James Dunleavy, Durall “TJ” Taylor, Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey.</p>
<p class=”ctx-link”><strong>Also Read:</strong> <a class=”also-read-counter” href=”https://www.thewrap.com/former-miami-dolphins-player-jonathan-martin-forces-school-to-close-by-posting-shotgun-photo/”>Former Miami Dolphins Player Jonathan Martin Forces School to Close by Posting Shotgun Photo</a></p>
<p>A spokesman for the Los Angeles County distict attorney said that Martin turned himself in on an arrest warrant Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He’s due back in court April 25 for a preliminary hearing.</p>
<p>If convicted as charged, Martin faces up to six years in custody.</p>
<p>Martin sent the high school into a panic by posting an Instagram story suggesting it could be the target of a shooting.</p>
<p class=”ctx-link”><strong>Also Read:</strong> <a class=”also-read-counter” href=”https://www.thewrap.com/jake-paul-has-a-5-point-plan-to-stop-school-shootings/” target=”_blank”>Jake Paul Lays Out 5-Point Plan to Prevent School Shootings in Latest YouTube Video</a></p>
<p>The photo featured a shotgun and the names of former teammates Incognito and Pouncey, and the renowned preparatory school.</p>
<p>Incognito, who is now with the Buffalo Bills, was the player at the heart of the bullying scandal against Martin in 2013, with Pouncey also accused. Incognito was later released from the Dolphins for harassing Martin, voluntarily checked himself into an Arizona treatment facility and sat out the 2014 season.</p>
<p>Martin’s Instagram post included a caption reading: “When you’re a bully victim and a coward, your options are suicide or revenge.”</p>
<p>Martin graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2008 and joined the Dolphins in 2012. He has not played in the NFL since 2014.</p>

<p>Read original story <a href=”https://www.thewrap.com/former-miami-dolphins-player-jonathan-martin-charged-with-multiple-crimes-after-posting-shotgun-photo/”>Ex-NFL Player Jonathan Martin Charged With Multiple Crimes After Posting Shotgun Photo</a> At TheWrap</p>

Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin was charged Tuesday with threatening two former teammates who had harassed him in the NFL and with threatening his former prep school classmates, Los Angeles County prosecutors said.

Martin pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of making criminal threats and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a loaded firearm, district attorney’s office spokesman Greg Risling said.

A post on Martin’s Instagram page last month showed a shotgun and referred by name to the private Harvard-Westlake prep school in Los Angeles that he once attended.

The post also included mentions of the Instagram usernames of former Miami Dolphins players Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey and said suicide and revenge were the only options for a victim of bullying.

Martin left the Dolphins midseason in 2013 after accusing teammates of bullying. An NFL investigation found that Incognito, Pouncey and teammate John Jerry engaged in persistent harassment directed at Martin.

Incognito was suspended for the final eight games and sat out the 2014 season before joining the Buffalo Bills.

Pouncey was released by Miami last week and agreed to a two-year contract Monday with the Los Angeles Chargers

The NFL’s investigation also found that teammates threatened to rape Martin’s sister, called him a long list of slurs and bullied him for not being “black enough.” Martin is black and Incognito is white.

Court documents say Martin “did willfully and unlawfully threaten to commit a crime which would result in death and great bodily injury” of Pouncey and Incognito. Both Pouncey and Incognito feared for their own safety and the safety of their families, the documents said.

Prosecutors said Martin also had a loaded firearm in his vehicle in Glendale, but court papers provided no other details.

The name of Martin’s attorney was not immediately known. Prosecutors said he is due back in court next month and faces up to six years in prison if he’s convicted.

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STUDIO CITY (CBSLA/CBS Sports) – Former NFL player Jonathan Martin is facing multiple charges in connection with a threat last month posted to social media that forced the closure of his former Studio City high school, according to multiple reports.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office last week charged Martin with four felony counts of making criminal threats and one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded firearm in public, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest. He was expected to turn himself in to authorities Tuesday, the Times reports.

On Feb. 23, Harvard-Westlake closed both its high school campus in Studio City and its middle school in Holmby Hills after a post on Martin’s Instagram account showed a shotgun and referred to his former prep school by name.

The post had the text: “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.”

The image included “#HarvardWestlake” and “#MiamiDolphins” superimposed over the shotgun, along with social media handles for former Miami Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey, and a pair of former Harvard-Westlake classmates.

When Martin was detained that same day, TMZ reports, Los Angeles police found an ax, a knife and a loaded shotgun in his possession.

Martin was placed in a 72-hour psychiatric hold after he was detained, but was later released. According to court documents, Martin’s girlfriend said that had been making suicidal statements in the month leading up to his Instagram post. Martin had also been sending disturbing messages to two of his former high school classmates — James Dunleavy and T.J. Taylor — who were both named in Martin’s Instagram photo.

In 2013, while playing for the Dolphins, Martin was the victim in a bullying scandal that sparked a national conversation about the issue and resulted in Incognito’s suspension.

Incognito currently plays for the Buffalo Bills. Martin retired from the NFL in 2015.

Jonathan Martin has been officially charged with five crimes for posting a photo of a shotgun with ammunition and sending a local high school into an emergency lockdown.

The L.A. County District Attorney charged Martin with four counts of criminal threats, and one count of carrying a loaded firearm.

As we previously reported, last month Martin posted a photo of a shotgun and ammunition and then called out former teammates Mike Pouncey and Richie Incognito.

He was eventually tracked down by cops, detained and brought to a hospital for a mental evaluation.

The former Miami Dolphin player also tagged Harvard-Westlake High School, which went into an emergency lockdown as a response.  The high school has since sought a restraining order against Martin to protect the faculty.

Story Developing…

New details have emerged in the case of a former NFL star and his cryptic Instagram post in which he threatened four people and caused his former high school to shut down.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, Jonathan Martin – who played for the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers – was arrested by police on February 23 was arrested with a cache of weapons.

When officials searched his car, they found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a large knife, an ax and a cell phone. A second shotgun was found at his parents’ home.

Martin, a former offensive lineman, was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold because officials believed he was a possible danger to himself and others. 

Additionally, Martin’s girlfriend, who spoke with officials, said the former player had been making suicidal remarks for a month and had been ‘writing on the walls’ of his home.

Investigators also spoke with the two former high school classmates Martin tagged in his cryptic Instagram post, both of whom said Martin had been sending them disturbing Facebook messages starting in 2016. 

The news comes just a week after the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School filed the workplace violence prevention restraining order again Martin, a former student, ESPN reported.

Martin, 28, attended Harvard-Westlake, an elite private school costing $38,000 a year and popular with celebrities, before going on to Stanford. 

The restraining order prohibits Martin from entering the campus and requires him to stay 150 yards away from school properties and facilities.

The threat in question, posted to an Instagram account believed to belong to Martin, read ‘When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide, or revenge.’

The post also included an image of a shotgun and shells, with four social media accounts tagged and hashtags for Harvard-Westlake and the Miami Dolphins.       

Among the four names tagged were former Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey. 

Martin accused Incognito and Pouncey of bullying following racially-charged incidents in 2013. 

 Incognito was suspended by the team for three months after Martin left the club midway through the 2013 season.

Incognito left voicemails on Martin’s phone calling him a ‘half-n****r piece of s**t’, threatening to slap his mother and even making death threats against Martin.

The current Buffalo Bills player also joked about ‘running a train’ on Martin’s sister, and made other crude remarks about her. 

Martin, who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2015, reportedly checked into a hospital for emotional distress over the incident, and returned to his parents home in California.

He ultimately quit the team and debated giving up on his career, feeling such psychological duress that he said he twice considered committing suicide. 

In November that year, Incognito was suspended for ‘conduct detrimental to the team.’ 

Also tagged in the Instagram post was sports agent James Dunleavy, VP Basketball at Independent Sports & Entertainment and TJ Taylor, a top executive at an exclusive dating app – both appear to be former students at Harvard-Westlake.

It’s not clear whether Martin also suffered from bullying at Harvard-Westlake. 

Neighbors of Martin at the upscale, modern apartment building in West Hollywood where he lives, were stunned at the news. 

‘He seemed very quiet and pleasant when I would run into him in the elevator or the garage,’ one woman – who lives on the third floor, the same as Martin’s – told DailyMail.com.

‘He would say, ‘hey’ and that was it. He wasn’t very talkative. 

‘He’s real big but he didn’t strike me as somebody who was aggressive or violent. He was like a gentle giant.’