FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz won't be going to trial this year, even on the off chance that courts reopen for felony jury trials.
Lawyers for the gunman who shot and killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day 2018 told Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that there's no way they can be ready in time to start picking a jury within the next four months.
Scherer, who has continually expressed a desire to bring the case in front of a jury, held out a glimmer of hope in even raising the question during a scheduling hearing Tuesday morning, "assuming we have juries back."
But defense lawyer Melisa McNeill shut down the possibility, informing the judge that the COVID-19 pandemic has crippled their ability to send mental health examiners to the jail to evaluate Cruz, 21, who faces the death penalty if convicted.
Cruz has admitted to the shootings and, through his lawyers, has offered to plead guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in exchange for a life sentence. But prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, and a mental health evaluation is crucial to the defense plans to craft an argument that could convince a jury to spare Cruz's life.
