PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—A Broward County Circuit judge’s procedural mistake on April 25 could cause the Parkland shooter to get a life sentence instead of the death penalty.
Attorneys for Nikolas Cruz—who is accused of murdering 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018—filed a motion asking Broward County Judge Elizabeth Scherer to end jury selection and prepare to sentence Cruz to life in prison because of a “mistake” she made in jury selections.
The motion went on to say that, “at the very least, the judge must reinstate the jurors she previously struck.”
According to Cruz’s lawyers, the judge on April 5 “prematurely dismissed 11 jurors.” The motion was filed over a dispute with the judge for dismissing them.
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