More Cruz data coming

Two judges ruled Thursday that school district records on Nikolas Cruz should be made public, and that part of his confession should be released. Cruz may appeal.

The public deserves a firsthand look at official records on the Parkland school shooting, including whether the school system should have known the gunman was a threat, two judges ruled Thursday.

The records include a portion of Nikolas Cruz’s confession and a consultant’s report based on his time spent in Broward schools.

The twin rulings promise a trove of new information and insight into one of the deadliest school shootings in America. None of the information will be released until Cruz has a chance to appeal the rulings.

For months after the shooting, the school district deflected questions about its handling of Cruz, promising the questions would be explored in an independent consultant’s report. The district commissioned the report to review whether officials could have done more to identify the risk Cruz posed to the school community.

Cruz’s defense lawyers argued that release of the report would have an inevitable effect on their case. But Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning ruled that the School Board can release it.

The report was not compiled by law enforcement as part of a criminal investigation, the judge ruled.

In the second ruling Thursday, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ruled that Cruz cannot keep his full confession from being disclosed to the public

just because his case has generated a mountain of publicity.

She rejected defense arguments seeking to keep the statement secret until trial.

Scherer wrote, “No evidence was shown that public disclosure … would result in a serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice in this case.”

Cruz spoke to investigators for 13 hours after his arrest Feb. 14. During that time, police say he admitted going onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with an AR-15 style rifle, killing 17 people and injuring 17 more.

Defense lawyers have publicly

conceded his guilt and have focused on trying to avoid the death penalty for Cruz, 19, a former student at the school.

Thursday’s rulings come one day after an appeals court ordered the Broward Sheriff’s Office to release video footage from outside the school during Cruz’s rampage.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel and other media outlets argued in court for the release of the confession, the school report and the surveillance video.

Scherer’s ruling does not permit the release of what lawyers call the “substance” of Cruz’s confession, meaning his descriptions of the actual shooting.

The details that can be released range from the mundane, such as Cruz giving his name and some biographical information, to the incriminating, depending on how much the judge wants kept secret.

In May, prosecutors released three cellphone videos in which Cruz could be heard smugly plotting the rampage.

Defense lawyers have 10 days to appeal Scherer’s ruling. Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office represents Cruz, said attorneys will review the ruling before deciding whether to challenge the decision.

Englander Henning’s ruling is also subject to challenge — defense lawyers have five days to appeal.