Another Parkland sentencing trial juror shares her experience, reasoning
MIAMI – One juror did not go as far as to say she felt threatened following the Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial.
Melody Vanoy shares she felt disrespect from other jurors after deciding not to give the confessed Parkland school shooter the death penalty.
"The energy was so heated we wanted to get out of the room," Vanoy said.
Vanoy was one of three jurors choosing to spare Nikolas Cruz from death and send him behind bars for life. After the fact, it became so tense in the deliberation room that she says another juror asked to go for a walk.
"They had to take us down for over 30 minutes to give us fresh air so we could move around and separate," said Vanoy.
Vanoy shares that the deliberation started respectfully. By the end, it took a turn.
"Comments, we're going to tell what went on in here," detailed Vanoy. "Even some whispering about which of the alternates should have been on the panel. ... We ended up with the wrong group."
One juror wrote to the judge shortly after the verdict:
"The deliberations were very tense, and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life."
Vanoy says other jurors accused the juror who wrote the letter of making a pre-determined decision.
"For me, the door swings both ways," said Vanoy. "We could have easily said you made up your minds before you came in here."
"There were a good four or five very upset, understandably."
Another juror felt so threatened by the comments they reported it to the state attorney's office.
The judge overseeing the Cruz case ruled Friday that prosecutors can release the name of a juror who said they felt threatened by a fellow juror during deliberations this week to decide his sentencing.
Friday's brief hearing and subsequent ruling on the matter paved the way for a criminal investigation. Broward County Sheriff's office will pick it up.
Attorney Bob Jarvis explains the next steps.
"Have to show the juror had the state of mind, actual intent to carry out the threat, not merely to make the threat," said Jarvis. "Have to show they had the means at their disposal to carry out the threat. That's a very tall order."
On the verdict itself, Vanoy says she weighed all the evidence before giving Cruz life when it came time to vote.
"I felt the system failed," explained Vanoy. "Inconsistencies in treatment weren't cohesive from birth to when he did it. It wasn't one mitigating factor. It was his entire life up to that point."
Three jurors raised questions about the private deliberations that occurred when jurors decided to spare Cruz's life.
During Friday's hearing, the prosecution says this matter is a safety issue. And them doing so in court was not an attempt to set aside Cruz's verdict.