Elizabeth Scherer: Latest News

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Parents of those killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, left the courtroom in tears on Thursday after the jury said it could not unanimously agree that the gunman should be executed.Nikolas Cruz, now 24, will be sentenced to life without parole for murdering 14 students and three staff members and wounding 17 others on Feb. 14, 2018. He previously pleaded guilty a year ago to the crimes and said he chose Valentine’s Day to make it impossible for Stoneman Douglas students to celebrate the holiday ever again."I'm disgusted with those jurors.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A jury said Thursday that it has reached a decision on whether to recommend that Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz be executed for the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.The recommendation was not immediately released and came in on the second day of deliberations, promising an end to a three-month trial that included graphic videos, photos, and testimony from the massacre and its aftermath, heart-wrenching testimony from victims’ family members, and a tour of the still blood-spattered building.Nikolas Cruz waits for the judge to enter the courtroom before the jury's verdict is released. The jury’s decision must be unanimous if it intends to recommend the death penalty, and if that happens, it will be up to Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer to make a final decision. If all jurors can’t agree on recommending death, then Cruz would get life in prison.PREVIOUS: Parkland shooter trial: Prosecutor makes final case for Nikolas Cruz to get the death penaltyOn Tuesday, Cruz, sat impassively during closing arguments, occasionally exchanging notes with his attorneys.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Attorneys for Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz suddenly and surprisingly rested their case Wednesday, leading to a shouting match after the judge accused them of a lack of professionalism.Cruz's attorneys had told the judge and prosecutors they would be calling 80 witnesses but rested at the beginning of Wednesday's court session after calling only about 25. There were 11 days of defense testimony overall, the last two spotlighting experts about how his birth mother's heavy use of alcohol during pregnancy might have affected his brain's development.The sudden announcement by lead attorney Melisa McNeill led to a heated exchange between her and Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who called the decision without warning to her or the prosecution "the most uncalled for, unprofessional way to try a case."The 12-member jury and 10 alternates were not present but were lining up outside the courtroom to enter.

PARKLAND, Fla. - Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering 17 people during a rampage at his former high school in Parkland, Florida, leaving a jury to decide whether he will be executed for one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings.Relatives of the victims who sat in the courtroom and watched the hearing via Zoom shook their heads or broke down in tears as Cruz entered his pleas and later apologized for his crimes."Today we saw a cold and calculating killer confess to the murder of my daughter Gina and 16 other innocent victims at their school," Tony Montalto said. "His guilty pleas are the first step in the judicial process but there is no change for my family.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Jurors in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz viewed graphic video Tuesday of him murdering 17 people as he stalked through a three-story classroom building at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School four years ago.The video, compiled from 13 security cameras inside the building, was not shown to the gallery, where parents of many of the victims sat. Prosecutors say it shows Cruz shooting many of his victims at point-blank range, going back to some as they lay wounded on the floor to kill them with a second volley of shots.The 12 jurors and 10 alternates stared intently at their video screens.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Jury selection in the deadliest mass shooting ever to go to trial will begin Monday with preliminary screening for the panel that will determine whether Nikolas Cruz will be put to death for murdering 17 students and staff members at a Parkland, Florida, high school.Court officials say 1,500 candidates or more could be brought before Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, prosecutors, and Cruz’s public defenders for initial screening over the next several weeks. The final panel will comprise 12 jurors plus eight alternates.

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The death penalty trial of the man charged with killing 17 people at a Florida high school is off indefinitely because of restrictions related to the coronavirus outbreak, a judge said Monday.Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said in a hearing held remotely that it’s not even clear when the Broward County courthouse will reopen to the public.