Nikolas Cruz: Parkland shooter death penalty case opening statements are set to being today

Cruz had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School before he went to the school on February 14, 2018, carrying with him a rifle bag with an AR-15-style rifle and a backpack that held firearm magazines and a tactical vest, according to an outline of events laid out by prosecutors.

He opened fire inside a three-story building, shooting at students and teachers in hallways and classrooms as he made his way up through each floor, prosecutor Michael Satz said in October.

Geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35; wrestling coach Chris Hixon, 49; and assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 37, also were killed — each while running toward danger or trying to help students to safety.

More than four years later, wounded victims and their families will finally get their day in court, when they’re expected to offer victim impact statements as part of the proceedings. But it comes against a backdrop not too dissimilar from the days after the Parkland shooting.

During selection of Cruz’s jury, his defense attorneys asked the court for a delay, arguing the “wave of emotion” triggered by the recent shootings would undermine Cruz’s right to a fair trial, court records show. But state Judge Elizabeth Scherer denied the motion, saying shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde had not compromised court proceedings or Cruz’s ability to get a fair trial.

A fraught jury selection process

Of the 12 jurors, seven are men and five are women. Nine alternates are women, and one is a man.

Ultimately, the court spent weeks whittling down a pool of hundreds of potential jurors, working to determine who could commit the time to serve — both sides expect the penalty phase to last months, they’ve told the judge — and probing their thoughts on the case and whether they could be fair, among other issues.

“She obviously did that on purpose to get out of jury selection,” the judge said, according to the TV station. Scherer dismissed the rest of the panel.

Penalty phase could include crime scene visit

Cruz now faces a jury because a defendant in Florida deemed guilty of a capital offense undergoes a separate phase of court proceedings to determine the sentence. In the penalty phase, the court reviews the case and the defendant’s history to decide whether he or she deserves death or a lesser sentence like life in prison.

The court generally will hear reasons why the defendant should or should not be put to death, known as aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances, respectively.

In Cruz’s case, the jury must be unanimous in finding beyond a reasonable doubt that at least one aggravating factor exists. If that happens, jurors must then be unanimous in recommending the defendant be put to death, or his sentence would default to life in prison without the possibility of parole. If they recommend death, the judge could choose to follow that recommendation or sentence Cruz to life instead.

The penalty phase could include jurors visiting the scene of the mass shooting, according to court documents, which show Scherer approved, writing it would allow the jurors to analyze “several of the aggravators” the state seeks to prove.

Survivors and members of the victims’ families are also expected to provide victim impact statements, sharing with the court how the defendant’s actions have affected them.