Cruz, 23, has already pleaded guilty to the murders of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which means a court will decide whether he faces a life sentence or the death penalty. It is the deadliest mass murder in the US that has ever been tried. Court officials say 1,500 or more candidates could be brought before the Elizabeth Scherer District Court, prosecutors and Cruz’s public defenders for an initial hearing in the coming weeks. Cruz, a former student of Stoneman Douglas, will only be sentenced to death if the jury unanimously agrees that aggravating factors such as the number of people he killed, his design and his cruelty outweigh mitigating factors such as his lifelong mental illness and his death. parents. If a juror disagrees, Cruz will be sentenced to life in prison. Seven other U.S. assassins who shot dead at least 17 people died during or shortly after the attacks, either by suicide or by police. The suspect in the massacre of 23 in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart in 2019 is still awaiting trial. Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the United States often take two years to begin because of their complexity. Cruz’s trial was further delayed due to Covid-19 and legal disputes. Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the shooting, said the trial was “long overdue”. “I just hope everyone remembers the victims,” he told the Associated Press. Cruz, Montalto said, “told the world his plans on social media, carried out those plans in a cold and calculated way, and killed my beautiful daughter, 13 of her classmates and three of her teachers.” Parents and spouses of the victims who spoke publicly stated that they were in favor of the execution of Cruz. Montalto did not immediately answer the question, but has said on several occasions that Cruz “deserves every opportunity he has given Gina and others.” From Monday to Wednesday for most of the following weeks, the jurors will come to the courtroom in groups of 60 people, about four a day. They will be asked if they can put aside any hostility towards Cruz and judge the case fairly. They will then be asked if they are available from June to September. From each team, Scherer hopes to have five left. Candidates who pass these barriers will be led to another room, where they will complete a questionnaire about their background and beliefs for lawyers to examine. They will be returned in several weeks for individual interrogation. To qualify for the jury, they must say they can vote in favor of the death penalty if the evidence supports this verdict, but they also do not believe it should be mandatory for murder. Both prosecutors and the defense can challenge any juror for a reason. Scherer will eliminate candidates for whom lawyers on both sides have convinced her that they would be biased against them. Each side will also take at least 10 compelling strikes, where one can eliminate a candidate for any reason other than race or gender.
