FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—The public defenders representing Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz tried to withdraw from his death penalty trial Monday after the judge ordered them to move forward with jury selection even though one member of their five-member team is sick with COVID-19.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected the withdrawal motion by Cruz’s lead attorney, Melisa McNeill. The defense then filed a motion asking Scherer to remove herself from the case, accusing her of being biased against Cruz. Scherer dismissed the request.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer speaks in court as the defense asks for a continuance due to an ill attorney during jury selection in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on June 6, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill argues for a continuance due to an ill member of the legal team during jury selection in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on June 6, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
The defense also filed a motion to delay Cruz’s trial indefinitely, saying the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead has reawakened emotions in Broward County over Cruz’s murder of 17 at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High on Feb. 14, 2018. They said that shooting makes it impossible for him to get a fair trial currently. Scherer did not rule on that motion….