Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz’s sentencing trial delayed. Judge aims for April start

The trial for Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been postponed, with the judge pushing to start “in the first week of April.”

A Broward circuit judge on Wednesday agreed to allow prosecutors and defense lawyers more time to prepare for the sentencing phase of the trial for Cruz, who has already pleaded guilty to murdering 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Florida’s deadliest school shooting.

Jurors will consider whether Cruz should be executed or sentenced to life in prison. Jury selection had originally been scheduled to begin on Feb. 21.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer also set several days of pretrial hearings in the coming weeks. By mid-March, lawyers said, they would have a better sense of when a firm trial date could be set.

The Broward State Attorney’s Office recently asked Scherer to push back the trial because of the “voluminous” amount of work yet to be completed, primarily centered around mental-health experts who will be called to testify on Cruz’s behalf.

In Cruz’s case, jurors will be asked to consider “mitigating” factors, such as his tumultuous family life, a long history of mental-health disorders, brain damage caused by his mother’s drug and alcohol use, and claims that he was bullied and sexually abused by a “trusted peer.”

In Florida, lawyers are allowed to conduct “depositions,” or the questioning of witnesses from the other side. Dozens of depositions still need to be completed, prosecutors said, and the state may need to get more counter-experts, who would also have to be deposed by the defense.

The Broward Public Defender’s Office is also still listing witnesses — five more were disclosed to prosecutors this week, lead prosecutor Mike Satz said.

“We’re not wasting any time,” Satz said of lawyers on both sides trying to prepare.

Because Cruz already pleaded guilty, the trial won’t be as large in scope — but is still expected to last multiple months, feature scores of witnesses and draw media from across the world. And that means extensive logistical planning by Broward’s judicial administration, the Sheriff’s Office and the media.

This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 12:16 PM.