![]() ![]() 4, 2022, to view the "1200 building," the crime scene where the 2018 shootings took place. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, while Cruz’s defense attorneys are asking the jury for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.Ĭourt deputies exit vans that transported jurors to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The defense also called its first two witnesses, a woman who testified Cruz’s birth mother used drugs and alcohol while pregnant and Cruz’s sister, who described life with a “horrible mother.”Ĭruz pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, and the ongoing phase of his criminal trial is to determine his sentence. His attorneys deferred their initial opening statements, did not cross-examine any students or teachers who survived the shooting and asked only basic questions of other witnesses. It was the first time jurors have heard from Cruz’s defense. The comments were part of the defense’s opening statements in Cruz’s death penalty trial for the killing of 17 people and wounding of 17 more at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018. Because of that, his brain was irretrievably broken, through no fault of his own,” McNeill said. “Because Nikolas was bombarded by all of those things, he was poisoned in the womb. In particular, McNeill highlighted his birth mother’s abuse of drugs and alcohol during his pregnancy, saying Cruz showed signs from a young age of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and antisocial personality disorder. Mitigation is any reason that you believe that the death penalty is not an appropriate penalty in this case.” “In telling you Nik’s story, in telling you the chapters of his life, we will give you reasons for life,” public defender Melisa McNeill said Monday in a Florida courtroom. An attorney for Nikolas Cruz asked jurors Monday to consider the Parkland school shooter’s dysfunctional family life and his serious mental health issues when they decide whether to sentence him to death. ![]()
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