Jury picks start up anew for gunman

Judge cites her ‘mistake’ in process

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The judge overseeing jury selection for a man who murdered 17 people at a Florida high school declared that the process will start over Monday, after prosecutors and defense attorneys argued that she erred when she didn’t question 11 potential jurors who said they would not follow the law before she dismissed them.

In granting the motion filed by Nikolas Cruz’s prosecutors over the objection of his attorneys, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer nullified two weeks of work by prosecution and defense lawyers, forcing them to begin the entire process anew Monday.

As a result, almost 250 potential jurors who had said they could sit for a four- month trial will not be called back next month for further questioning over whether they could fairly judge Cruz, who pleaded guilty in October to murdering 14 students and three staff members at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. More than 1,200 candidates had been screened.

The 12-member jury that will be selected after a twomonth 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. They had already been delayed from May 31.

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.

Scherer sided with the prosecution, but gave the defense until Wednesday to conduct research in an effort to change her mind.

Scherer told both sides that while they think she made a serious error by not questioning the 11 jurors, she disagrees.

She said she was only deferring to their opinion to move the case forward.

“I will never make that mistake again,” Scherer told attorneys the next day.

The jurors eventually selected will decide whether aggravating factors — the multiple deaths, Cruz’s planning and his cruelty — outweigh mitigating factors such as the defendant’s lifelong mental and emotional problems, possible sexual abuse and the death of his parents.

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.

Given Cruz’s notoriety and the hatred many in the community have for him, finding jurors who can be fair promises to be a long process.

Jurors who can serve four months complete questionnaires about their backgrounds and their beliefs on the death penalty. The answers are given to both sides, and then prospects are brought back in several weeks for further questioning.

Both sides then can try to “rehabilitate” jurors who they believe might be favorable for their side.

For example, jurors who are morally opposed to the death penalty would normally be dismissed as unfair to the prosecution, but the defense can ask whether they could vote for the death penalty if the law required it.

If the judge is convinced that they could, the juror could be seated.