The wife of the off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to crash a plane after taking magic mushrooms has insisted that he “would never have knowingly attempted” to harm anyone on the flight.
Sarah Stretch stood by her husband, Joseph Emerson, 44, on Thursday at his first appearance in federal court in Portland, Oregon, where he pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
“This is not my Joe, this is not any Joe that anyone knows,” Stretch said of her pilot husband, whose charges include 83 counts of attempted murder.
“That’s not the man I married,” she told reporters after her appearance, according to The Oregonian.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but it just wasn’t him.”
Through tears, she said her husband was struggling with depression, but “I would never have done any of that knowingly.”
“That’s not the man that all these people in this world are rallying around to support. [to] “I love him,” he said.
Joseph Emerson was arrested and charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after he allegedly attempted to shut down the plane’s engines in mid-flight.
Several other family members accompanied the accused rebel airman, including his parents and father-in-law, the news outlet reported.
Emerson, dressed in a blue robe, turned to his family and whispered, “I love you,” as he was led into the courtroom.
A family member approached him to punch his fist in the air.
Emerson’s wife, Sarah Stretch, said he “would never have knowingly attempted” to harm himself or others on the flight. KGW
He has been accused of interfering with flight crew members and attendants, and faces dozens of state charges in Oregon, including 83 felony counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering a aircraft.
Federal Judge Youlee Yim You ordered Emerson detained as dangerous and a flight risk on the interference charge, pending his next court appearance on Nov. 22.
“This is a complete shock to everyone,” Emerson’s attorney, Ethan Levi, said after the hearing, adding that his client wanted to thank the pilots for their “timely and heroic actions” and the flight attendants for their kindness.
Sarah Stretch said of her husband: “This is not my Joe, this is not any Joe that anyone knows.” Joseph Emerson/Facebook
“Sir. Emerson did not intend to harm himself or anyone else. He was not suicidal or homicidal,” Levi told reporters.
The off-duty pilot told police he had taken magic mushrooms before the flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Sunday, when he is accused of trying to cut off fuel to the engines by activating the fire suppression system before be stopped. shot down by the crew.
Even while restrained, he attempted to open the emergency doors of the Alaska flight, operated by Horizon Air, as the pilots rushed to make an emergency landing.
Emerson later told investigators he had a “nervous breakdown” after not sleeping for 40 hours and taking psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.
“I didn’t feel good. It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was happening. “It…didn’t seem right,” Emerson told police, according to an affidavit obtained by The Post.
“You have to handcuff me right now or everything will go wrong,” he told a flight attendant after he was kicked out of the cabin, according to the document.
“I ruined everything,” Emerson told the crew member, adding that he “tried to kill everyone.”
There were 83 people on board.
An amended complaint filed Thursday says Emerson had not slept for 48 hours, not 40, according to Oregon Live.
Emerson has told investigators he became depressed after the recent death of his best friend, who Stretch said was the best man at his wedding, but the amended complaint says the friend died six years ago, ABC7 reported.
Emerson told investigators he had a “nervous breakdown” after not sleeping for nearly two days and taking psychedelic mushrooms for the first time. Joseph Emerson/Facebook
Levi said he hopes the case will be consolidated in one court and not pursued in federal and state courts, and that he plans to argue at a future hearing in favor of Emerson’s release.
“Not only is he safe, but he is not a flight risk,” Levi told the judge.
Emerson is being held without bond on the state charges.
He is in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Center.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn