Judge reverses course on restarting jury selection

Preserves 2 weeks of work ahead of sentencing trial start

The judge in the Parkland mass shooting case reversed course Wednesday, preserving the first two weeks of jury selection after tossing them earlier this week.

The latest twist in a case that has seen no shortage of surprises came after Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer admitted that she acted prematurely on Monday by granting a state motion to reboot the jury selection process and start from scratch.

It also came after the defense raised the specter of a Constitutional challenge that could only be fixed by taking the death penalty off the table and sentencing mass shooter Nikolas Cruz to life in prison for the 17 murders and 17 attempted murders he committed on Valentine’s Day 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Scherer did not grant that defense request.

The reversal means Scherer now has more than enough jurors to move to the second phase of jury selection, which focuses on potential jurors’ views on the death penalty and whether they know too much about the case to be fair. The first two weeks of jury selection yielded 243 potential jurors. This week added nearly 150 to the list.

Defense lawyers did not follow up on a statement made by lead attorney Melisa McNeill on Monday threatening to challenge jurors who passed screening this week.

The jury selection controversy stemmed from a dispute over how to handle 11 jurors who lawyers on both sides say were prematurely dismissed on April 5. Scherer defended her original decision to toss those jurors because they said under oath they would not be able to follow the law in deciding the case.

“A juror who unequivocally says they cannot and will not follow the law” is of no value to the prosecution or the defense, the judge said Wednesday. But prosecutors and defense lawyers say they should have had the opportunity to further question those jurors before the judge dismissed them.

Scherer offered on April 6 to have the dismissed jurors return to court for additional questioning on April 25. Both sides agreed. But by last Friday it became clear that no one had told the prospective jurors to show up.

On Monday, the state moved to address the error by striking all 243 jurors that had passed through the first round of jury selection. The judge agreed, over the defense’s objection, and started jury selection from scratch. That was the decision she reversed Wednesday.

Now she’s ordering the 11 to court on Monday, followed by the first set of pre-screened jurors who have filled out questionnaires exploring the issues raised by the case.

While Cruz has already confessed to the murders, his fate is the subject of the upcoming trial. The defense wants Cruz to be sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors want a jury to decide whether that is acceptable or whether he should be sentenced to death.

Jury recommendations for death must be unanimous under Florida law. If a single juror rejects the death penalty, Cruz will be sentenced to 34 life sentences — 17 for the shooting victims who survived, and 17 for those who did not.