FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A judge overseeing the sentencing trial for the killer behind the 2018 Parkland massacre agreed to delay the start of the hearing for at least another six weeks, giving both side more time to prepare.
Jury selection had been scheduled for Feb 21. Instead, several hours that day and the following few days have been set aside for unfinished business.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who had been towing a hard line for no more delays, tried Tuesday to get both the state and defense team for Nikolas Cruz to commit to a new date. A new date, possibly as early as the first week of April, may be decided on March 14.
March 14 marks four years and one month since Cruz roamed the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a semi-automatic rifle killing 17 and wounding another 17.
In October, Cruz confessed to the murders as well as the attempted murders. His guilt has never been in doubt, although a death sentence has been.
Typically when a killer confesses to a first-degree murder, an arrangement between the state and defense has already been made and the confessed killer is sent directly to prison. But in this case, the state is demanding that a jury decide if Cruz should spend the rest of his life in prison or die at the hands of the state.
Death sentencing cases, in general, tend to take more time to prepare as they are complex. In the Cruz case, the sheer number of victims creates multiple complexities in both sides preparing for trial.
In court on Tuesday, both the state and the defense were hesitant to say when they would be ready for trial when the judge was trying to push for another firm date.
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