Nikolas Cruz trial: Prosecutors seek interview of juror over alleged threat by another juror
FORT LAUERDALE -- Prosecutors have filed a motion with the Broward County court asking Judge Elizabeth Scherer to compel law enforcement officers to interview a juror who said they felt threatened by another juror during deliberations to decide the fate of Nikolas Cruz.
The three-page filing does not identify the juror in question. A hearing has been set for 1:30 p.m. to address the motion.
"Juror X spoke to a support staff member and informed the support staff member that during deliberations she received what she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room," the filing says. "The State did not call Juror X back and instead, filed a Notice to the Court."
The filing comes on the heels of another handwritten letter from a juror who allegedly was a lone holdout and was accused of saying she would not support the death penalty for Cruz.
In her letter to the judge, the juror who is from Pembroke Pines, said she told Scherer she lived up to the terms of the oath of service she took.
"This allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court and I would be fair and unbiased," the woman wrote. "The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life."
The jury spared Cruz, 24, from the death penalty Thursday for killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, sending him to prison for the remainder of his life in a decision that left many families of the victims angered, baffled and in tears.
"This is insane. Everyone knows right? This is insane," Chen Wang, cousin of shooting victim Peter Wang, said at a news conference after the jury's decision was read. "We need justice."
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty a year ago to murdering 14 students and three staff members, and wounding 17 others, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.
The three-month trial to determine whether he should be executed included graphic videos and photos from the massacre and its aftermath, heart-wrenching testimony from victims' family members and a tour of the still blood-spattered building. The jury rejected the death penalty after deliberating for about seven hours over two days.
His lead public defender, Melisa McNeill, told the jury during her closing argument Tuesday that life in prison would still be a horrible punishment and suggested that other prisoners might target him.
But that wasn't enough for many family members, who went before television cameras, one by one, to express their shock and anger at the jury's decision. Some called Cruz a "monster," while others cried.
