The trial for Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz will start as scheduled on July 18, 2022. Cruz’s lawyer attempted to get the trial delayed due to the recent mass shootings this year but Florida’s 17th Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer shut that play down.
The Sentencing Trial for Parkland Shooter Nikolas Cruz Will Not Be Delayed – Cruz Lawyers Attempted a Delay Because of Recent Mass Shootings
Cruz’s legal team made a gambit for the case to be pushed back due to “a wave of emotion” following mass shootings in the U.S. As result, the July 18 trial date is way too close to for their client’s trial to proceed.
However, Circuit Judge Scherer said that there was no problem with proceeding during jury selection, so why not continue. Scherer wrote:
“There has not been any negative impact to his fair trial rights and there is no basis to continue this matter.”
In October 2021, Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The shooting would leave 17 dead and 17 injured.
Given that he was the shooter caught on campus security cameras, his social media showed that he held violent and extreme views, and that he admitted to wanting to mimic the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting—it would’ve been hard to run a not guilty defense out of the gate. Also, Nikolas Cruz had been booted from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in 2017 and made threats towards students.
If anything, his legal team landed a difficult client to defend and it’s just a plan to get him fewer life terms. The sentencing trial is expected to run for four months.
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