Jury selection in the Parkland school shooter’s death penalty case continued Tuesday in Broward County with a pool of 53 potential jurors.
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer wants 12 in the jury box and eight alternates to be ready to replace them if anything goes wrong. The defense and prosecution teams each have the ability to eliminate 10 potential jurors.
The jurors selected will have to decide if Nikolas Cruz, 23, should be executed after he pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Cruz was 19 when he used an AR-15 rifle to shoot at students and teachers on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Jury selection began on April 4. More than 1,500 Broward County residents on jury duty answered Scherer’s questions about hardships that would keep them from serving as jurors. Those who didn’t have any hardships returned to face attorneys’ questions on their views of the death penalty.
The 12 jurors will have to agree on the death penalty for Cruz to be executed for his crimes. Otherwise, Scherer will only have the option to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer wants 12 in the jury box and eight alternates to be ready to replace them if anything goes wrong. The defense and prosecution teams each have the ability to eliminate 10 potential jurors.
The jurors selected will have to decide if Nikolas Cruz, 23, should be executed after he pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Cruz was 19 when he used an AR-15 rifle to shoot at students and teachers on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Jury selection began on April 4. More than 1,500 Broward County residents on jury duty answered Scherer’s questions about hardships that would keep them from serving as jurors. Those who didn’t have any hardships returned to face attorneys’ questions on their views of the death penalty.
The 12 jurors will have to agree on the death penalty for Cruz to be executed for his crimes. Otherwise, Scherer will only have the option to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Interactive graphic
Continue reading...