Parkland judge should be reprimanded for conduct during Nikolas Cruz trial: commission
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer should be publicly reprimanded for her conduct during the penalty trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, which includes her failure to curb “vitriolic statements” aimed at the defense and allowing “her emotions to overcome her judgement,” a state commission concluded.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission ruled on Monday that Scherer violated several rules governing judicial conduct during Cruz’s six-month legal proceedings in Florida. It included devastating victim impact statements from both parents of victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School the afternoon of February 14, 2018, which left 14 students and three staff dead.
Cruz was sentenced to life in prison after jurors could not unanimously agree that he deserved a death sentence.
In the weeks before, Scherer “unduly chastised” lead public defender Melisa McNeill and her team, wrongly accused a member of the defense team of threatening her children “and embraced members of the prosecution after sentencing,” according to the commission, composed of 15 judges and lawyers and citizens.
The panel — composed of 15 judges and lawyers and citizens — went on to acknowledge that while “the worldwide publicity surrounding the case created stress and tension for all participants,” it is a judge’s responsibility to “ensure due process, order and decorum, and act always with dignity and respect to promote the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”
“In limited instances during this unique and lengthy case, Judge Scherer allowed her emotions to overcome her judgement,” the commission said in its report to the Florida Supreme Court, which will make the final decision.
Scherer recently announced she was retiring from the bench on June 30. The commission noted her departure was not part of any deal they made with the soon-to-be ex-judge.
A 46-year-old former prosecutor, Scherer was appointed to the bench in 2012 and the Cruz case was her first capital murder trial.
With News Wire Services
