Nikolas Cruz Jail House Battery Trial Could Have Implications For His Parkland Massacre Trial

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) — Jury enactment continued Wednesday astatine the Broward County Courthouse
for confessed Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz’s artillery trial.

During the proceeding, the prosecution asked Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer to halt the defence from allowing Cruz to usage colored pencils and coloring books successful court. They called it a ploy to person imaginable jurors that Cruz is simply a kid and has intelligence wellness issues.

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Cruz’s attorneys said they lone gave him colored pencils, and not coloring books, and that the authorities should not beryllium acrophobic with what helium does successful court.

Judge Scherer said the colored pencils springiness the content that helium is simply a kid and said that for information reasons helium should lone beryllium allowed a pen which indispensable beryllium disposable astatine each times.

On Tuesday astir 70 imaginable jurors were picked successful mentation for the commencement of proceedings acceptable for Tuesday, October 19th. Six last jurors volition beryllium picked to perceive the case, the time before, Monday October 18th

Scherer is questioning 32 jurors astatine a time, making it wide this lawsuit is not astir the 2018 massacre astatine Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

“Although Nikolas Cruz is the accused successful the Parkland shooting, we are not present for the Parkland shooting. It is important to stress that you are not, that is you are not, being asked to service arsenic a juror connected the Parkland shooting case,” said Scherer.

The justice pointedly told the imaginable jurors that Cruz is presumed to beryllium innocent. She past asked if determination were immoderate radical successful the excavation who knew Cruz oregon who did not deliberation they could beryllium nonsubjective successful their decision. She besides asked if serving successful the 5 time proceedings would contiguous a large hardship.

On Tuesday, a fewer imaginable jurors broke down successful the courtroom and were excused.

Cruz, a erstwhile Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School pupil is charged with battle and artillery connected a instrumentality enforcement serviceman aft deputies accidental helium attacked BSO Detention Sgt. Raymond Beltran backmost successful November 2018.

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Video from the jailhouse appears to amusement Cruz walking astir tables successful a communal area. He exchanged words with Beltran who told him “not resistance his sandals astir portion successful a jailhouse dayroom,” according to the constabulary report.

Cruz past reportedly flipped him disconnected Beltran earlier rushing astatine him, tackling him to the ground. Beltran was capable to flip him over. They 2 past struggled implicit Beltran’s stun weapon which went disconnected but didn’t onslaught anyone. Cruz past slipped from Beltran’s grasp and allegedly punched him. Beltran past punched Cruz successful the face, knocking him to the ground.

Back successful September, Cruz’s defence tried to person the lawsuit dismissed. They argued that surveillance video before the scuffle happened was not preserved, and truthful denied him a just trial. But Judge Scherer denied the motion, saying determination was nary owed process violation.

Cruz is jailed connected charges of sidesplitting 14 students and 3 unit members and wounding 17 others astatine Marjory Stoneman Douglas High connected February 14th, 2018. No day has been acceptable for the execution trial. Scherer has been holding predominant hearings successful caller weeks to see issues that indispensable beryllium resolved earlier it begins. Prosecutors program to question the decease penalty.

While this lawsuit isn’t astir the Parkland massacre it could person implications for that trial.

“What the authorities is doing is coming up with aggravating factors,” said salient defence lawyer Jim Lewis.

Lewis represents the mates who took Cruz successful aft his parent died. It was lone a fewer months earlier the Parkland shooting.

Aggravating factors volition beryllium utilized by prosecutors to reason for the decease punishment for Cruz, according to Lewis. If prosecutors get a condemnation astatine the artillery trial, they tin usage it to amusement Cruz’s signifier of aggression.

However, Lewis feels adjacent if Cruz is convicted astatine some trials, and receives the decease punishment it volition beryllium overturned astatine the Supreme Court level due to the fact that of his property astatine the clip of the offenses and different factors.

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“His parent died, helium was bullied, and had intelligence wellness issues. It’s textbook mitigating” helium said.