In Florida, a question of 1 more death: the gunman’s

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Among the suspects on the list of the country’s 10 worst mass shootings, Nikolas Cruz is alone in one thing: He was taken alive.

His arrest raises the rare prospect of a death penalty trial for a massacre, a huge undertaking with far-reaching consequences for all involved. Some would not be satisfied without an execution, while for others the trial itself would bring anguish.

The chief prosecutor in Broward County has said the killing of 17 people at a high school on Valentine’s Day “certainly is the type of case the death penalty was designed for.” A trial may be the only opportunity to lay bare all of the facts. But it would also likely be televised and followed by lengthy appeals, provoking years of public agony, as well as sustained attention for Cruz, who already has confessed.

Over years of mass shootings, from a university campus in Huntsville, Ala., to a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., prosecutors have struggled with this conundrum, testing political winds, spending days talking with survivors and families of the dead and reflecting on the intersection between morality and the oath of office.

Even Broward County’s public defender, whose office is representing Cruz and who wants to save his life, readily acknowledges the wrenching emotions that are part of the case.

“If it were my daughter, I would want to personally kill my client, make no mistake about it,” said Howard Finkelstein, the public defender, an elected position.

Already, Finkelstein’s office has offered a way to avoid a trial: Cruz’s guilty plea in exchange for a punishment of 17 consecutive life sentences without parole. But Finkelstein recognizes that for some victims, that might not be enough.

Relatives of the victims of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., have not yet made their feelings about the death penalty widely known. And it is not clear where Michael J. Satz, Broward County’s prosecutor, is in his deliberations.

Expecting Satz will seek the death penalty, Finkelstein and his deputies intend to concentrate on jury selection. Because juries must unanimously recommend death sentences in Florida, a single juror could prevent execution. Finkelstein said the defense would likely focus on mental health and the accumulation of failures by government agencies to stop Cruz from opening fire.