Jury selection in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz must start over after the judge declared her own mistake requires it
Judge Elizabeth Scherer speaks with Assistant State Attorney Carolyn McCann, left, and Assistant Public Defender Tamara Curtis during a sidebar discussion prior to jury pre-selection in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, April 25, 2022. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings.
The 12-member jury that will be selected after a two-month winnowing process will decide if Cruz, 23, is sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. The restart will push back opening statements from June 14 to June 21.Prosecutor Carolyn McCann made her argument after the 11 jurors who were improperly dismissed by Scherer two weeks ago weren’t told to return to court for more questioning Monday — as had been planned — due to a miscommunication error.
Melisa McNeill, Cruz’s lead public defender, said Scherer should wait until next week to see if the 11 jurors returned and could be questioned.Scherer sided with the prosecution, but gave the defense until Wednesday to conduct research in an effort to change her mind. Scherer dismissed them without further questioning, drawing an objection from Cruz’s attorneys. They wanted to make sure they were not simply trying to avoid jury service. Florida jury candidates are always questioned before dismissal.
But the defense, he said, will argue on appeal that by restarting over their objection, Cruz is being subjected to double jeopardy and cannot be sentenced to death. For Cruz to receive the death penalty, the jury must vote unanimously for that option. If one or more vote against it, he will be sentenced to life without parole.
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