Jury to determine fate of Parkland shooter
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. >> A jury of seven men and five women was chosen Tuesday for a penalty trial to decide whether Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to death or get life in prison for the 2018 attack, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates.
The jurors were picked from a final group of 53 candidates by prosecutors and defense attorneys. Those chosen survived three rounds of questioning that began on April 4 and dragged on through numerous delays caused by illnesses and other factors. Eight to 10 alternates were still being selected.
The jury will decide whether Cruz, 23, receives the death sentence or life in prison without parole for the murders of 14 students and three staff members at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment. They must be unanimous for Cruz to get the death penalty — if at least one votes for life, that will be Cruz's sentence.
The jurors chosen are two banking executives and two technology workers, a probation officer, a human resources professional and a WalMart store stock supervisor. Also included are a librarian, a medical claims adjuster, a legal assistant and two retired executives. Each side was given the opportunity to persuade Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that a particular candidate was biased. And if she disagreed, each side also had 10 peremptory challenges where they could eliminate candidates for any reason except race or gender. The defense used seven and the prosecution used four.
The panel will have a task never faced by a U.S. jury — no American mass shooter who killed at least 17 people has ever made it to trial. Nine others died during or immediately after their shooting attacks, killed either by police or themselves. The suspect in the 2019 slaying of 23 at a WalMart store in El Paso, Texas, is awaiting trial.
In the first phase of jury selection, the prospective panelists were simply asked if their employment and life circumstances would allow them to serve the four months the trial is expected to last. About 80% were eliminated because their employers wouldn't pay them, they are self-employed, or they had school obligations or vacations planned.