Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial live updates: Witness says Parkland school shooter has IQ of 83

Jorge Milian, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read
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FORT LAUDERDALE — After a week off, testimony in the Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial resumed Monday morning.

Cruz pleaded guilty in 2021 to killing 17 people and wounding 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The 12-person jury will recommend whether Cruz, then 19 and now 23, is put to death or sentenced to life in prison. If it recommends death, a move that must be unanimous, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will make the final ruling, likely sometime this fall.

The Palm Beach Post is covering the daily proceedings live. Follow below for updates throughout Monday, Sept. 12.

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Parkland shooter trial: Arguments limit testimony to single witness

Legal arguments throughout the day resulted in only one witness taking the stand on Monday and he'll have to return Tuesday to complete cross examination.

The day began with attorneys sparring on the contents of a slideshow that the prosecution wanted thrown out. The debate last for around two hours before the jury was brought in and witness Paul Connor, a Washington-based neuropsychologist who was testifying on Zoom, was called.

The day also ended with attorneys challenging each other – this time with defense attorneys claiming that lead prosecutor Michael Satz incorrectly stated during questioning that the witness — a neuropsychologist who was testifying on Zoom — broke state law by not videotaping an interview with Nikolas Cruz.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who has often shown her exasperation during the months-long trial, during several minutes of sidebar arguments to call it a day and send the jury home.

Connor testified that Cruz had "multiple deficits" in 9 of 11 "neurological domains" that he examined.

Satz attempted to show that Connor, who has worked 145 hours for the defense team at $350 an hour, is a hired gun.

Parkland shooter trial: Witness testifies Nikolas Cruz has IQ of 83

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table.

Attorneys battled most of Monday morning over legal arguments pertaining to the testimony of Paul Connor, a clinical neuropsychologist and expert on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, who was the day's first witness.

Connor testified that Cruz’s full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ, was an 83. The average person has an IQ of 100 and someone with fetal alcohol syndrome averages a 90 IQ.

Alcohol's impact on a fetus is worse than from the use of heroin, cocaine and nicotine, according to Connor. Brenda Woodard, Cruz's birth mother, drank beer and wine and also used crack cocaine regularly while she was pregnant.

An undated photograph of Brenda Woodard, the biological mother of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, is shown on a screen in the courtroom during the penalty phase of Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.
An undated photograph of Brenda Woodard, the biological mother of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, is shown on a screen in the courtroom during the penalty phase of Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.

Alcohol, Connor explained, is a "teratogenic drug" that, unlike substances like cocaine, kills cells in the fetus.

Connor said Cruz’s full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ, was an 83. The average person has an IQ of 100 and someone with fetal alcohol syndrome averages a 90 IQ.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer interrupted Connor's questioning by defense attorney Jeremy Secord in order to call for a lunch recess. Monday's session will resume at 2:30 p.m.

The defense team began presenting its case Aug. 22, has gone through 25 witnesses and is expected to call up to 80 witnesses to testify.

Jorge Milian is a journalist covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jmilian@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @Caneswatch. Help support our work, subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Parkland shooter trial updates: Nikolas Cruz had IQ of 83, witness says