The Parkland shooter’s lawyers want to keep prosecutors and the public from learning who is visiting him at the Broward main jail.
In their latest motion on behalf of Nikolas Cruz, lawyers from the Broward Public Defender’s Office are asking the judge on the case to block the release of visitor logs to protect against the leaking of possible defense strategies.
Cruz, 20, faces the death penalty if convicted of 17 counts of murder for the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018. He also faces 17 counts of attempted murder.
The defense has long indicated a willingness to avoid a trial by having him plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.
His attorneys argue that releasing records of who is visiting him would tip the state off to how they plan to argue for his life.
“Disclosing [experts’] identities would reveal the nature of communications between the defendant and his counsel, and the mental impressions and strategy of his counsel,” the lawyers wrote.
In court Friday, Assistant Public Defender Joseph Burke repeated the argument to Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer.
“If the defendant were not in custody, this would not even be an issue,” he said.
Prosecutors, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, and an attorney representing the news media, including the South Florida Sun Sentinel, objected to the proposal, arguing that jail visitor logs are a public record and there is no exemption in state law barring their release.
Scherer said she would consider the defense motion and issue a ruling soon.
Scherer did rule that Cruz will not be allowed to stay in his jail cell while lawyers debate his case before trial — his lawyers had sought to waive his presence.
Prosecutor Jeff Marcus said he would agree with the defense lawyers if they want Cruz to be absent for routine court dates to discuss matters like scheduling.
rolmeda@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4457, Twitter @SSCourts and @rolmeda