FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Nikolas Cruz, who could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Valentine's Day, was in court Wednesday for a hearing that may decide who will represent him in a bid to spare his life.
Cruz, 19, is now represented by the Broward Public Defender's Office, which is funded by taxpayers to handle clients who cannot afford to hire their own lawyers.
But whether Cruz falls into that category remains an open question _ one that Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said she will not answer immediately.
Cruz, dressed in a red jail jumpsuit, kept his head lowered throughout the hearing and did not speak. His brother, Zachary Cruz, attended the hearing and also did not speak.
Court records from his late mother's probate case show he stands to receive $25,000 from a life insurance policy and had more than $12,000 in a bank account.
That balance was down to $353.43 as of April 5, according to defense lawyer Melissa McNeill. It was more than $12,000 earlier.
He also has a claim to at least a portion of 24 shares of Microsoft stock purchased in 2003, according to his lawyers. They are worth around $2,227.
McNeill said her office cannot help Cruz access the insurance money.
His mother, Lynda Cruz, also received an annuity payment of $3,333 last September, and defense lawyers last month wanted to know whether future payments are pending and whether Cruz can claim any of it.
He does not have access to those funds, defense lawyer Melisa McNeill said Wednesday.
Whatever money Cruz is entitled to, he doesn't want it, McNeill said.
"He would like that money donated to an organization that the victims' families believe could facilitate healing in our community," she said.
McNeill and other attorneys representing Cruz said in court last month that even with those assets, Cruz would be hard pressed to find a lawyer willing to take the case with no guarantee of future payments.
"One of our concerns is that a private lawyer may come in... and bill taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Public Defender Howard Finkelstein.
Finkelstein asked Scherer to expedite the legal process and find out how much money is in Lynda Cruz's estate. "Reset the hearing," he said. "Find out what assets are there."
The Public Defender's Office has indicated that Cruz is willing to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison, an outcome they say would spare the victims and their families from having to relive Cruz's rampage with multiple witness accounts and videos taken from surveillance cameras at the school and students' cell phones.
But the Broward State Attorney's Office has given no indication that prosecutors are willing to entertain such a deal.
"The state of Florida is not allowing Mr. Cruz to choose his own punishment for the murder of 17 people," prosecutor Shari Tate said.
Death penalty cases are typically expensive, the defense lawyers said, because they are time consuming because they combine the defense attorneys' hours on top of both sides securing the testimony of expert witnesses and the cost of numerous "due process" motions designed to protect the defendant's rights.
"The costs on this case are going to be astronomical," said Assistant Public Defender Diane Cuddihy.
