FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz sat with his head bowed, barely acknowledging his attorneys, during a brief hearing Monday in a heavily guarded Fort Lauderdale courtroom.
At issue was a motion filed under seal Friday by Cruz's defense team, two days after the shooting that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The sealed document was not described in detail, although Broward Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer said it involved the defense attorneys' "access" to their client. It's unclear precisely what this was referring to, since after the hearing, Chief Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes told reporters that his team has had physical access to Cruz.
The defense also signaled that they would want to keep future documents under seal.
The judge agreed to a defense request to allow the motion to remain sealed, saying it concerned a narrow issue of attorneys' access to their client and that another judge had previously agreed to keep it sealed. The judge, a former Broward prosecutor, was appointed to the bench in 2012 by Gov. Rick Scott.
Prior to the judge's entrance, Cruz sat with his lawyers on either side. He appeared to sign a document, as one of his lawyers blocked the view with a legal pad. He nodded once or twice to acknowledge things they said to him, but otherwise stared down during the entire proceeding. About 30 reporters, camera operators and photographers crowded the courtroom, along with about a dozen Broward Sheriff's deputies.
Earlier Monday morning, lead defense attorney Melisa McNeill had argued against requiring Cruz to be in court Monday afternoon for the hearing, saying his presence would just be "an opportunity for the media to have a circus with him."
But prosecutors wanted him in court, saying they didn't know what was in the motion so they could not waive the defendant's presence.
