Last year, when Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder and other charges, prosecutors no longer had to prove at trial that he carried out the deadly mass shooting. at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. settled.
What the plea went unresolved was his sentence. In Florida, first-degree murder is a felony, punishable by death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. And state law requires which the jury determined it should be.
If the defendant has been convicted at trial, the same jury that rendered the verdict will be retained for a separate sentencing proceeding. But when a defendant pleads guilty before trial to a felony, as Mr. Cruz did, the court must refer to a jury for sentencing, unless the defendant waives his right to a jury decision.
What does the state do?
The prosecutor’s job now is to convince the jury that there were aggravating circumstances in the case that would warrant the death penalty. Among the aggravating circumstances that may be listed in the law are:
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That the murders are “particularly heinous, brutal or heinous”;
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That the defendant “intentionally created a great risk of death for many people”;
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That the defendant killed “in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner without any moral or legal justification”.
Prosecutors are expected to present comprehensive details of 17 high school murders and 17 murder plots, including hundreds of grisly photos and videos. The judges can also tour the school building where the shooting took place.
“They will try to get these jurors to relive what happened to the victims,” said David S. Weinstein, a former prosecutor who is now a defense attorney. “It will be an emotional roller coaster ride.”
What does the defense do?
The defense will try to convince the jury that there are extenuating circumstances that would require clemency. Under the law, such circumstances may include that the defendant is “under the influence of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance” or has a reduced ability to understand whether his or her actions constitute a crime, in number of other factors.
Defense attorneys intend to show that Mr. Cruz, 19 years old at the time of the shooting, had struggled with a difficult upbringing and mental health problems and tried treatment. They have requested permission to show jurors a map of his brain, but the judge has yet to decide whether to allow it.
Jury’s Duties
After hearing the evidence, the jury must first decide whether the state can prove each of its claimed aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. In order for the defendant to be eligible for the death penalty, the trial panel must agree to find at least one of the aggravating circumstances that must be proved.
Next, the jury will consider whether the proven aggravating factors are sufficient to result in a death sentence and outweigh any extenuating factors found to exist, and if so , whether to recommend the court to sentence the death penalty or not. To do so, the Jury must again agree; otherwise, the sentencing proposal must be life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The court cannot apply the death penalty if the jury has recommended life in prison, but it can reserve the jury’s death sentence and impose a life sentence instead.
A strange case
The need for a special sentencing jury is one of the ways the Parkland case was extremely unusual. It’s rare for someone as young as Mr Cruz (he’s now 23) to face the death penalty, and even rarer for someone who committed a mass shooting so deadly that he’s still alive. to face justice.
“In a sense, we are in completely uncharted waters,” said Robert M. Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Fla., who tracks the serial killers. probe. “You never get challenges like this, because the shooter is always dead.”
Patricia Mazzei contribution report.
