Is $500,000 bond for trespassing excessive?

Zachary Cruz is not his brother.

But Cruz’s decision this week to ignore orders to stay away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School put Broward County Judge Kim Theresa Mollica in a predicament — forced to choose befendant’s protecting the security of a jittery public still reeling from the trauma of last month’s mass shooting and protecting the rights of a young man accused of a misdemeanor.

Broward defense lawyers say Mollica sacrificed too many of the defendant’s rights, predicting Wednesday that her decision to set a bond of $500,000 would not stand.

Cruz, 18, was charged Mon- with trespassing at the Parkland high school where his brother killed 17 people last month and injured 17 others. Mollica set a bond far above the typical $25 in a trespassing case. She said it was partly to protect the Stoneman Douglas community.

Attorneys acknowledge the Cruz situation is no typical trespassing case, but they say that is precisely why the detween rights have to be protected.

“It’s clearly a reaction the court feels the community wants to see, but it is excessive, it is unlawful, it’s guilt by association — our due process rights begin to erode once we start traveling down this path,” said Huda Ajlani Macri, president of the Broward Associday

ation of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Zachary Cruz’s attorneys did not return several calls and e-mails requesting comment Wednesday.

Former prosecutor Robyn Barrett said she understood why prosecutors wanted to make sure Cruz remained in custody, but the bond amount still surprised her.

“Is it fair? No,” she said. “Do I have a personal problem with it? No. Will it stick? No … As a member of the community I have no problem with that bond. But as an attorney I don’t think it’s constitutional.”

Judges who set bond usually look at several factors, including whether the defendant is a flight risk, his previous record, and whether he poses a threat to himself or the community, said Nova Southeastern University Law professor Bob Jarvis.

“Trial judges have tremendous discretion to decide what is fair to the accused as well as what’s fair to the community,” he said.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office determined after his arrest that Zachary Cruz does pose a threat — Cruz was committed for mental health observation under the state’s Baker Act late Monday.

According to an arrest report, he admitted visiting the campus three times to reflect on the Feb. 14 shooting rampage for which his brother, Nikolas Cruz, 19, is facing the death penalty.

Records released Wednesday show Zachary Cruz also had run-ins with Coral Springs police for infractions that included skateboarding on the hood of a police car and swiping items off the shelves at Target.

According to records released Wednesday, Zachary Cruz was a 10th-grader in July 2016 when police were called to an Office Depot on Westview Drive because he had been skateboarding on a police car, causing dents and scratches and $750 worth of damage.

He told the officer he was just bored, and he was charged with criminal mischief.

Officers noted in the report he was “continually disrespectful to the police on scene.”

When his mother arrived, she asked him why he did that and he responded “Because I don’t have anything else to do.”

The skateboarding incident happened in the Magnolia Shoppes, the same Coral Springs plaza where Nikolas Cruz later took a job working at the Dollar Tree store.

In August 2016, while Zachary Cruz was still in a juvenile diversion program, he was arrested after a Target loss prevention guard identified him as a shoplifter.

Police said he skateboarded to the store and left with two headsets and an Xbox controller that he stuffed inside a red backpack. The stolen merchandise was worth $219.89.

On Wednesday afternoon, Broward Circuit Judge Jack Tuter granted a temporary “Risk Protection Order” that will give law enforcement officials the authority to remove firearms from Zachary Cruz’s home and block him from being able to buy a gun for at least a year.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office sought the order after his arrest Monday. Deputies asked Cruz what his plans for the future were. “I don’t know right now,” he responded, according to the petition for the protection order.

Meanwhile, in the Nikolas Cruz case on Wednesday, Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected a lawyer’s petition to have the Broward State Attorney’s Office disqualified from prosecuting the case and the Public Defender’s Office disqualified from representing the defendant.

The judge found that Alex Arreaza, the attorney representing wounded Stoneman Douglas victim Anthony Borges, lacks legal standing in the case to file any such petitions.

Arreaza had argued that the prosecutor and public defender had both signed an agreement with the school district that may have hindered their willingness to determine that Cruz posed a threat.

The agreement was designed to handle certain school discipline issues that may involve misdemeanors without involving the justice system.

Arreaza said he would appeal her ruling, arguing that a victim in the case should have standing to make his demand.

Cruz