FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The judge in the Parkland mass shooting trial appeared to start the jury selection process from scratch Monday, scrapping two weeks of work and telling more 200 jurors who survived the first round of screening that their services will no longer be required.
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer is now telling new potential jurors the trial will not begin until June 21, a little over a week after her last released schedule.
The judge on Monday granted a motion from the prosecution to reboot the proceedings, a request that came after 11 improperly dismissed jurors were simply never told they were being ordered back to the courtroom to answer additional questions about their ability to follow the law on the case.
The defense objected to the decision and tried to salvage the work that’s been done so far — six days of screening over two weeks to decide the fate of confessed killer Nikolas Cruz.
Scherer took a recess, then returned and called a new jury panel to court without making a final ruling clear to the public.
Defense lawyers will have the opportunity to argue its position later today.
When the 11 jurors were originally dismissed, it was the defense that raised the objection and the specter of what was being called a mistrial. Starting over at that time would have resulted in the loss of just two days of work.
Cruz has already pleaded guilty to the 17 murders he committed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, 2018. The jury is being empaneled to decide whether he is sentenced to life in prison or death.
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