Nikolas Cruz trial: Jury adjourns for day after asking to see murder weapon
FORT LAUDERDALE - Jurors in the penalty phase trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz asked to the see the assault-style rifle used during the Valentine's Day massacre that left 19 students and faculty members dead.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer adjourned for the day after the request was received, but said the panel should be able to view the firearm when they resume their deliberations Thursday morning.
The panel is expected to resume its deliberations at 9 a.m., following a meeting by the lawyers and the judge at 8:30 a.m.
The court recessed Wednesday evening following another request made by jurors earlier in the day in which they sought clarification about testimony from two neuropsychologists who had testified last month on Sept. 12-13 and Oct. 3-4.
At the start of Wednesday's proceedings, Scherer delivered her instructions to the panel.
"Each crime and the evidence applicable to it must be considered separately when deciding an appropriate sentence for each count," she said. "Also, a separate verdict must be returned as to the appropriate sentence for each of the 17 counts of first degree murder."
Sherer said there are two possible punishments: one, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or two, death.
"The law neither compels nor requires you to determine that the defendant should be sentenced to death. Once each juror has weighed the proven factors, he or she must determine the appropriate punishment for the defendant. The jury's decision regarding the appropriate sentence must be unanimous if death is to be imposed," said Scherer.
She also told them no facts other than proven aggravating factors may be considered in support of a death sentence.
The jury began their deliberations around 10:45 a.m.
The seven-man, five-woman panel can go through all the evidence, pictures, videos, and witness testimony to help them better make a decision.
They have no time limit to decide.
Just afternoon the judge and attorneys were back in the courtroom because the jury had questions.
First, they asked for the transcripts of the testimony given by Doctor Robert Denny in his deposition video. He was the neuropsychologist who interviewed Cruz in jail. They also asked for a transcript of Dr. Paul Connor's testimony.
The judge discussed with both sides whether they should have a read-back. There was also debate on whether the jury should get the transcript and the order in which they were requested.
The judge wrote to the jury that they were preparing the testimony to be read back to them and they should continue deliberating. She also asked in what order they wanted them to be read back to them.
The jury requested that the cross-examination testimony of Dr. Connor be read back first followed by all of the testimony given by Dr. Denny.
The jury also requested the current DCD guidelines, which were not entered into evidence during the trial. The judge said they will inform the jury that all items in evidence have been provided.
The jury was then brought back and a court reporter began reading back the requested testimony.
The jury is being sequestered, staying at an undisclosed hotel with no cell phones and no television. Jurors are allowed one phone call a day and that will be monitored by a law enforcement officer.
"Sequestration is a necessary evil when you have a decision of this magnitude that needs to be made, but it's not an easy process," said former Broward assistant state attorney Maria Schneider.
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty last year to the murders of 14 students and three staff members at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. The trial has only been to determine his sentence.
During closing arguments on Tuesday, prosecutor Mike Satz argued Cruz's decision to commit the shooting was premeditated and calculated. Satz pointed to Cruz's internet writings and videos, where he talked about his murderous desires such as when he wrote, "No mercy, no questions, double tap. I am going to kill a ... ton of people and children."
"What he wanted to do, what his plan was and what he did, was to murder children at school and their caretakers," lead prosecutor Michael Satz said Tuesday. "The appropriate sentence for Nikolas Cruz is the death penalty."
Cruz's lead attorney Melisa McNeill and her team never questioned the horror he inflicted, but focused on their belief that his birth mother's heavy drinking during pregnancy left him with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Their experts said his bizarre, troubling and sometimes violent behavior starting at age 2 was misdiagnosed as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, meaning he never got the proper treatment.
"And in a civilized humane society, do we kill brain damaged, mentally ill, broken people?" McNeill asked Tuesday. "Do we? I hope not."
WHAT'S REQUIRED FOR CRUZ TO GET A DEATH SENTENCE?
The jurors will be voting 17 times - once for each victim. For the jurors to recommend a death sentence for a specific victim, they first must unanimously agree that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing involved at least one aggravating circumstance as proscribed under Florida law.
This part should not be difficult - the listed aggravating circumstances include knowingly creating a great risk of death to numerous people, committing murders that were "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" or committed in a "cold, calculated, and premeditated manner." They then must unanimously agree that the aggravating factors warrant consideration of the death penalty.
They then must determine whether the aggravating circumstances "outweigh" the mitigating factors that the defense argued such as his birth mother's drinking, his adoptive mother's alleged failure to get him proper psychiatric care and his admission of guilt.
If they do, the jurors can then recommend a death sentence - but that's not required. A juror can ignore the weighing exercise and vote for life out of mercy for Cruz.
A death sentence recommendation requires a unanimous vote on at least one victim. If one or more jurors vote for life on all victims, that will be his sentence.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE JURY RECOMMENDS A DEATH SENTENCE?
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will schedule a sentencing hearing, likely months from now. Cruz's attorneys will have an opportunity to persuade her to override the jury and impose a life sentence, but that rarely succeeds. If sentenced to death, he will be sent to Florida's Death Row while his case goes through appeals. It will be years before he is executed, assuming the death sentence isn't overturned and a retrial required.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE JURY IMPOSES A LIFE SENTENCE?
If the jury cannot unanimously agree that Cruz should be executed for at least one victim, he will be sentenced to life without parole - Scherer cannot overrule the jury. She could sentence him immediately or schedule a future hearing.
After he is sentenced, the Florida Department of Corrections would assign him to a maximum security prison where he would be part of the general population. McNeill, in her closing argument, alluded that could be an exceedingly dangerous place for someone like Cruz.