Prosecutors call for probe of juror threat
Judge will sentence Cruz to life without parole on Nov. 1
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Prosecutors of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz called for an investigation Friday after a juror said another panelist threatened her during the deliberations that ended with a life sentence for Cruz’s murder of 17 people four years ago at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Prosecutor Carolyn McCann told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer during a brief hearing that prosecutors are not trying to invalidate Thursday’s jury vote and reported the threat only for safety reasons and so the Broward County Sheriff ’s Office can investigate.
In their written motion asking for the hearing, prosecutors said the juror told them another juror did something during deliberations that “she perceived to be a threat.”
McCann said they did not ask any further questions because they didn’t want to taint any investigation and said the Broward state attorney’s office has no intention of getting involved further. “We don’t want to touch this with a 10foot pole,” she said.
Scherer agreed that if a possible crime was committed, deputies should investigate. The information has been turned over to sheriff’s investigators, who will contact the juror.
Florida criminal defense attorneys Richard Escobar and David Weinstein, who are both former prosecutors, said in interviews that even if a threat was made to a juror, the jury’s decision cannot be overturned because of double jeopardy, or trying the same defendant twice for the same crime.
Scherer said two jurors tried to speak to her after Thursday’s decision was announced, she said, but she told them that wouldn’t be appropriate. Jurors have told local TV stations that the final vote was 9-3 for death, with one of the three voters for life adamant she would never change her mind. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote, and jurors decided there was no point in continuing deliberations.
Scherer will sentence Cruz to life without parole at a Nov. 1 hearing – a punishment whose announcement left many families of the victims angered, baffled and in tears. They will be allowed to address Cruz at the hearing.