A Cabot man accused of shooting at officers during a November drug raid at his rural home has filed a notice of intent to rely on an insanity defense at his federal trial.
On Tuesday, the same day Mark Lyle Dodson filed the notice and asked for a postponement of a jury trial that was to begin Sept. 15, U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes granted both requests, resetting the trial for March 23, 2015.
Dodson, 53, and Mary Olszak, 52, were indicted by a federal grand jury in December after a Nov. 22 raid at their home at 2327 Backbone Road, where authorities said they had been "mid-level" methamphetamine dealers for several months.
The raid was conducted by Jacksonville police, Pulaski County sheriff's deputies and federal agents, and ended in gunfire between Dodson and three Jacksonville special response team officers. Officer Jerry Keefer was struck in the arm, and he returned fire, along with officers John Alberson and Christopher Schultz, hitting Dodson three or four times in the arms and legs, according to the sheriff's office.
Dodson was later indicted on one count of drug conspiracy, three counts of possession of a firearm used in a crime of violence and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Olszak was simultaneously indicted. On Aug. 1, two charges were dropped after she pleaded guilty to a charge of distribution of .13 ounces of methamphetamine, for which she now awaits sentencing.
The sheriff's office said last year that Dodson was home alone in a bedroom early Nov. 22 when officers entered the house. The sheriff's office reported that Dodson met the officers with a blast through the bedroom door from a 16-gauge shotgun, and the shootout ensued. Keefer was treated at a hospital and released the same day, while the other two officers suffered injuries that didn't require treatment, authorities said.
Dodson was hospitalized, though the extent of his injuries wasn't detailed.
A federal complaint that led to the raid revealed that Olszak drew the attention of local drug investigators, who worked with an informant who went to Olszak's home and paid her $275 for an "eight ball" of ice, a potent form of methamphetamine, while wearing a recorder. The complaint said that Olszak told the informant it would "not be a problem" for her to obtain a half-ounce of the drug in the future.
Metro on 08/20/2014