The jury deciding the negligence case against former Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson won’t be allowed to visit the scene where a gunman murdered 17 students and faculty, nor will jurors be allowed to stand where Peterson took cover while it was happening.
Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein denied a defense request to tour the outside of the 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, a visit that might have allowed jurors to appreciate the scope of the crime scene and visualize Peterson’s argument that the sound of gunfire echoed off nearby buildings, making it impossible to tell where the shots originated.
Fein also denied a request from prosecutors to walk inside the building, which would have allowed jurors to see how easy it would have been for Peterson to intervene if he had run into the building when he first heard gunfire instead of taking cover nearby.
At a hearing earlier this week, Fein hinted at his belief that a site visit was rare in criminal cases and unnecessary in this one. Peterson, 60, is accused of seven felony counts of child neglect with great bodily harm, along with misdemeanor counts of culpable negligence and perjury.
Peterson was outside the east entrance of the 1200 building on Feb. 14, 2018, when gunman Nikolas Cruz shot and killed coach Aaron Feis at the west entrance. To intercept Cruz, Peterson would have had to open the east entrance, correctly conclude that Cruz had left the first floor and was headed upstairs, and run up to the second.
Cruz took the east stairwell from the second to the third floor during his rampage.
On the third floor, Cruz murdered five students and one teacher, wounding four other victims. Cruz was sentenced to life in prison in November.
Defense lawyer Mark Eiglarsh argued that walking jurors through the inside of the building, which has been preserved, would needlessly traumatize the jury. Prosecutor Steven Klinger argued that a tour of the inside was needed to properly judge the distance between the gunfire and the deputy, undermining the defense argument.
“This court finds both the defendant and the state are able to present sufficient evidence without the need for a jury view,” Fein wrote in the order he issued Thursday.
Jury selection in the Peterson case is scheduled to resume Monday.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.