Start of Parkland killer’s penalty phase trial moved to June, judge rules

The start of the trial that will determine whether Nikolas Cruz lives or dies has been delayed.

Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer signed an order Monday that officially moved the date of testimony from May 31 to June 13.

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Both the defense and prosecutors argued in a hearing last week that they needed more time to interview expert witnesses.

On Wednesday, the sixth day of jury pre-selection in Cruz’s sentencing trial, the defense claimed prosecutors made a discovery violation when they listed four new expert witnesses on April 11, after the jury selection process had begun. Prosecutors argued that they needed those additional witnesses to refute the defense’s experts, who were provided in March, who will testify about the confessed school shooter’s mental health.

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Scherer’s order said prosecutors made no discovery violation by adding the witnesses, noting that they were “entitled to seek out experts who it believes may take a different view” of the experts the defense will provide. The state’s new expert witnesses will not be excluded.

About 200 potential jurors who said they would not have financial or scheduling hardships by serving on the jury have been sorted into groups and completed questionnaires, the next step in narrowing down the pool.

Scherer said last week that she needs about 350 people to complete the questionnaires before moving onto the next phase of jury selection.

Twelve jurors will ultimately decide whether Cruz, who pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder on Feb. 18, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or death.

Jury selection will continue on April 25.