ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico woman convicted of creating a public nuisance by posting an online comment about the possibility of a shooting at her son’s school will get a new trial.
The Roswell Daily Record reports (http://bit.ly/1shygtF) that Jeanette Garza Alvarez of Roswell will have a jury trial after appealing a judge’s conviction in Municipal Court.
Defense attorney Luke Ragsdale says the April 26 conviction violated his client’s free speech rights.
He says Alvarez plans to sue the city in federal court.
Authorities say she posted on Facebook in January that her son told her some eighth-graders were planning to take guns to their middle school and have a shootout.
Alvarez received a 30-day deferred sentence and was ordered to pay $29 in court costs.
Her trial is scheduled for July 1.
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Information from: Roswell Daily Record, http://www.roswell-record.com