FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Prosecutors in the case of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are calling for an investigation after a juror said she felt threatened by another member of the jury during deliberations that ended with a life sentence for Cruz’s murder of 17 people.The motion calls for law enforcement to interview the unnamed juror after she told the state attorney’s office about what "she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room." No further details were given.
A hearing was held Friday afternoon, where the judge said the matter should be in the hands of law enforcement.The jury foreman said three of the jurors ultimately voted for life in prison, with one of them being a "hard no" on the death penalty and another two ultimately choosing to vote against it as well.A divided jury spared Cruz the death penalty and instead decided to send him to prison for the rest of his life in a decision that left many families of the victims angered, baffled and in tears.
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty a year ago to murdering 14 students and three staff members, and wounding 17 others, at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb.
14, 2018.Florida criminal defense attorneys Richard Escobar and David Weinstein, who are both former prosecutors, said that even if a threat was made, the jury’s decision will not be overturned because of double jeopardy, or trying the same defendant twice for the same crime.Nikolas Cruz waits for the judge to enter the courtroom before the jury's verdict is released. READ: Jury in Parkland shooting penalty trial recommends life in prison for Nikolas CruzWeinstein pointed to a 1990s case involving two drug kingpins who bribed a jury and were acquitted.