A veteran Broward special education teacher who was the Parkland school shooter’s third-grade teacher was the first witness on the stand on Monday in Fort Lauderdale.
Assistant Public Defender Tamara Curtis handed Lynne Rodriguez, a Broward County Public Schools employee, a stack of records that Rodriguez held to say Nikolas Cruz was below at all levels.
“He could be cursing and angry and throwing things ... sometimes he would rip up other students’ work,” Rodriguez said adding his behavior was both “disruptive and aggressive.”
Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill delivered her opening statement on Aug. 22 to attribute the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland to Cruz being “damaged.” She later said the defense team has over 80 witnesses to call in an effort to save his life.
Last week, the defense team called various mental health experts who previously treated Nikolas Cruz to testify.
Prosecutors, however, sought to establish during cross-examination that his mental health disorders were not “severe enough” to explain the school shooting.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to fatally shooting 17 people and injuring another 17 in the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
He faces either life in prison or death.
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Assistant Public Defender Tamara Curtis handed Lynne Rodriguez, a Broward County Public Schools employee, a stack of records that Rodriguez held to say Nikolas Cruz was below at all levels.
“He could be cursing and angry and throwing things ... sometimes he would rip up other students’ work,” Rodriguez said adding his behavior was both “disruptive and aggressive.”
Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill delivered her opening statement on Aug. 22 to attribute the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland to Cruz being “damaged.” She later said the defense team has over 80 witnesses to call in an effort to save his life.
Last week, the defense team called various mental health experts who previously treated Nikolas Cruz to testify.
Prosecutors, however, sought to establish during cross-examination that his mental health disorders were not “severe enough” to explain the school shooting.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to fatally shooting 17 people and injuring another 17 in the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
He faces either life in prison or death.
Continue reading...
