Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Jury selection in Parkland mass shooting case enters final phase
The Parkland mass shooting trial entered the final phase of jury selection Wednesday, and Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said she is planning to have the job finished within a week.
Opening statements and testimony are now scheduled to begin July 6.
Jurors answered a battery of questions about their attitude toward police, guns, white privilege, and even first-person shooter video games, like Call of Duty, in the most detailed round of questioning yet. And jurors had a question of their own — will serving on the panel have an effect on their privacy?
The question came up as defense lawyer Nawal Bashimam asked about their ability to refrain from discussing the case with anyone until deliberations start. Jurors learned the media and the general public will eventually be able to access the contact information they listed on a jury questionnaire, which includes their names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers.
“When will this information be released?” one potential juror asked.
The jurors are being chosen to decide whether confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison or death for the 2018 murders of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, an incident that made international headlines and led to the passage of new state gun laws.
Publicity surrounding the case has been unusually high. News outlets that typically ignore the jury selection process have been present in the courtroom every day, informing the public about every step and misstep along the way. The media presence will only increase when the actual trial gets underway.
As a general practice, media outlets do not publish the names or photographs of jurors while they are serving, and disclose
juror names only if the jurors grant interviews after the trial.
Later, defense lawyer Tamara Curtis asked potential jurors whether recent shootings have caused them to change their mind on the death penalty or their willingness to serve on this case. She did not mention the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, but the defense has expressed concern that the incident might have a damaging effect on the ability to seat a jury in the Parkland case.
She also probed juror’s thoughts on having to look at gruesome crime scene photos and having to tour the building where Cruz shot and killed the victims. Jurors called it necessary and said they would still be fair to the defense no matter how graphic or disturbing the evidence is. “I’ve seen horrible things before. I was in the Trade Center on 9/11,” one juror, a former federal agent, said. “Do I want to do it? No. Will I do it as part of my civic duty? Yes. I don’t want to, but I will.”
Scherer plans to screen 40 jurors Wednesday and 40 on Thursday. The jury will return to court next Tuesday to learn, finally, whether they made the final cut of 12 jurors plus eight alternates.
But the end of jury selection will not signal an immediate start to the trial. Prosecutors and defense lawyers both have motions before the court, and the judge needs to rule on them before opening statements and testimony can start.
Some of those motions deal with the admissibility of expert testimony, which is subject to a legal test that requires a full hearing.
Scherer set aside all of next week, except for Friday, and July 5 on those final motions. In earlier proceedings, attorneys warned that would not be enough time.