Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Judge to decide whether public will see schools’ report on shooter
Nikolas Cruz will be robbed of his chance at a fair trial if a school district report on his educational records is released to the public, his lawyers argued Wednesday.
Broward school district officials say they want the report, compiled by an independent consulting firm that reviewed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter’s educational records, to be made public to show what they could and should have known about the shooter before his Feb. 14 rampage.
Broward Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning agreed Wednesday to review the report to decide what parts of it contain privileged information that should not be disclosed to the public.
Although Cruz’s lawyers wanted the decision to be made by Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who is handling the criminal case, Englander Henning is treating the issue as a civil matter governed by the state’s public records law. She said if she decides to make part of the report public, she will give Cruz’s lawyers five days to challenge the ruling.
Cruz, 19, faces the death penalty if he is convicted of killing 17 people at the Parkland school. He has admitted to the shooting through his lawyers, who are seeking to avoid the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea. Prosecutors have not accepted that request.
More than 50 parties, including the families of those killed, wounded and traumatized during the incident, have indicated they intend to sue the School Board of Broward County, accusing the district of failing to heed warning signs that showed how dangerous Cruz was.
“We all agree that some portion of this report should be redacted,” said school board lawyer Debra Klauber, appearing before Englander Henning on Wednesday. “We’d like the court’s guidance as to which portions should be released and which portion should be exempt.”
Florida’s public records laws do not permit the disclosure of mental health and some other records without the permission of the subject.
But Cruz’s lawyers at the Broward Public Defender’s Office say releasing any of the report is bound to have an effect on the criminal case, and Scherer should be the one to make any decision about it.
“The report is called ‘An Independent Review of Nikolas Cruz’s Educational Records,’ ” said defense lawyer Melisa McNeill. “It is 100 percent based on his educational records.”
McNeill complained that Cruz could not be present at Wednesday’s hearing because he is in jail, and his criminal defense lawyers technically cannot represent him in a civil matter.
Englander Henning asked school board lawyers for an edited copy of the report by July 18. It was not clear how long she would take to approve any portion for release.
In addition to the criminal case and the legal action on the school board’s report, Cruz is named as a defendant in cases brought by the families of two victims — one, Anthony Borges, who was wounded and another, Meadow Pollack, who was killed. Hearings have not been set in those lawsuits.
Those lawsuits name, as a co-defendant, the estate of Cruz’s mother, Lynda Cruz, who died last November. It’s still not clear how much the estate is worth and who represents it, the subject of separate, unresolved legal action.
Also named in the Borges and Pollack lawsuits are James and Kimberly Snead, the Parkland couple who took Cruz in a short time after his mother died. Cruz was living with the family the day the shootings happened.
Media outlets are also pushing in court for the public’s access to video surveillance recordings from outside the school during the shooting. A Broward judge approved the release of footage in April, but the school district appealed the ruling, arguing that disclosing the video would reveal weaknesses in its surveillance system. The Fourth District Court of Appeal heard arguments in the case this week. It’s not clear when the court will rule.
Broward Sheriff’s Office and School Board officials expect dozens of lawsuits to be filed later this year. By law, government agencies are entitled to six months’ notice before a state lawsuit is filed. The first civil actions are expected toward the end of August.
In the criminal case, defense lawyers are moving to block the release of the statement Cruz gave to investigators when he was arrested. Parts of the confession are legally exempt from release until they are disclosed in open court, but defense lawyers say none of it should be made public.
A hearing on that issue is scheduled for Monday.