Jury can tour Parkland, Florida school where shooter killed 17, judge rules

Greater than 4 years after killing 17 folks at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive College, Nikolas Cruz’s destiny shall be within the fingers of a Florida jury.

The jury will resolve whether or not the Florida college shooter will get a demise sentence or life in jail for murdering 17 folks and wounding 17 others, a choose has dominated. 

The previous pupil pled responsible to all fees. It’s the deadliest U.S. mass capturing ever to be tried.

Circuit Decide Elizabeth Scherer rejected a protection argument {that a} jury tour of the three-story constructing at the highschool isn’t essential as a result of there are movies and pictures of the crime scene and would solely serve to inflame the jurors’ passions.

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Cruz’s legal professionals stated the tour was of the location was “extremely prejudicial” and significantly pointless since he pleaded responsible in October, and the jury is not going to need to resolve whether or not he dedicated the murders, solely whether or not he’s sentenced to demise or life with out parole.

However Decide Scherer disagreed. 

“This Court docket finds that its probative worth isn’t considerably outweighed by its prejudicial impact,” Scherer stated in denying the order.

“The Court docket finds {that a} jury view of the crime scene stays helpful and correct, even in gentle of the present posture of the case,” Scherer wrote in a ruling posted Monday. “The aim of a jury view is to help the jury in analyzing and making use of the proof offered at trial.”

Prosecutors need jurors to see the trail Cruz, 23, took by way of the constructing on Feb. 14, 2018, to grasp the carnage he unleashed as he walked methodically floor-to-floor, firing his semi-automatic rifle as he went. Shortly after the capturing, the constructing was fenced off and sealed — the dried blood, Valentine’s Day presents and bullet holes nonetheless in place.

Graphic offers particulars of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive College capturing.

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Roughly 1,500 potential jurors shall be screened over the following weeks because the pool is pared right down to 12 plus eight alternates in a three-step alternatives course of is anticipated to final two months, adopted by a four-month trial.

Chief Assistant Public Defender David Wheeler is proven on the protection desk with Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive College shooter Nikolas Cruz throughout jury pre-selection within the penalty part of his trial on the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, April 4, 2022.

To get the demise penalty, the jury should unanimously agree that aggravating components such because the variety of folks he killed, his planning and his cruelty outweigh such mitigating components as his lifelong psychological sickness and the demise of his dad and mom.

If any juror disagrees, Cruz will obtain a life sentence.

Juries don’t usually tour crime scenes, however both facet can request it if it believes a go to would assist the members higher perceive the case. It’s as much as the choose to resolve in the event that they go to.

The constructing, which rises above the Stoneman Douglas campus, has been a grim, each day reminder of the capturing for college students, employees and oldsters. The Broward County college district plans to demolish it after the trial.

The Related Press contributed to this report.