Latest delay in Nikolas Cruz death penalty case moves trial start date to June 13

Jorge Milian, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read

FORT LAUDERDALE — The sentencing trial of confessed school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been delayed again.

Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer ordered Monday that the beginning of testimony to determine whether Cruz is executed or spends the rest of his life in prison be pushed back to June 13 from May 31.

Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz sits at the defense table with his attorneys, Gabe Ermine, left, and David Wheeler before pleading guilty, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on all four criminal counts stemming from his attack on a Broward County jail guard in November 2018, Cruz's lawyers said Friday that he plans to plead guilty to the 2018 massacre at a Parkland high school.

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Prosecutors and defense lawyers told Scherer last week they need more time to prepare for expert witnesses.

Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in September to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in the the Feb. 14, 2018, attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 15 miles southwest of Boca Raton.

Cruz lived with a family friend in a mobile-home park near Lantana for several weeks prior to the shootings.

Jury selection began on April 4. Scherer has said the trial will last into September, making the process of selecting 12 jurors and eight alternates difficult and time-consuming.

Attorneys for both sides told Scherer last week they needed more time to interview expert witnesses and for possible hearings to determine if their testimony would be permitted.

The expert witnesses in question are expected to provide testimony about Cruz's mental health.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer (center), Assistant State Attorney Carolyn McCann (left), and Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill during jury pre-selection in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Wednesday, April 13, 2022.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer (center), Assistant State Attorney Carolyn McCann (left), and Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill during jury pre-selection in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Wednesday, April 13, 2022.

The trial was scheduled to begin in 2020, but various issues, including court closures stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, have slowed the process.

Scherer, who was handed the case in 2018, expressed annoyance at the languid pace of the proceedings. After attorneys last week requested more time, Scherer responded: "In what universe does it take, in any case, three months for jury selection?”

Jury selection is on recess this week but will resume on Monday.

jmilian@pbpost.com

@caneswatch

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz death penalty case to start June 13