The trial of Nikolas Cruz, accused of committing a massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., could last 4 to 6 months, according to an earlier hearing on Wednesday.
Cruz, 23, confessed last year to killing 17 people and injuring 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County on Feb. 14, 2018, and the penalty phase of the trial will begin soon after jury selection, which will begin On Monday.
According to Local 10 newspaper, the attorneys recommended that Broward County Judge Elizabeth Scherer brief prospective jurors on the trial could take four to six monthsbecause they have to consider whether Cruz faces life imprisonment or the death penalty..
Also prosecutor Jeff Marcus told the court that the penalty phase could be extended to early September given that 17 people died in the eventand you must listen to the story of each of these deaths.
“Then there are 17 others who are considered aggravated in the case and there is an account of how they were injured and then the Beltrán case, that is an aggravating factor and then there is the impact on the victim.” said Marcus.
The judge said the goal at this point is to get a total of 20 jurors, of which 12 will be deciding and 8 alternates.
The federal government reached a $127.5 million settlement with the victims’ families for FBI inaction in the case, after which the final phase of the trial was to begin.
On October 20, 2021, Cruz answered in a Florida court on 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in what is now known deadliest high school shooting in US history.
The young man admitted his guilt after a complaint from his lawyerstrying to save him from a death sentence.
He also went through a long list of questions to assess his intellectual competency.
Using a semi-automatic rifle, Cruz opened fire on a crowd at the Broward County Educational Center on Valentine’s Day, killing 17 students and faculty members and injuring 17 others.
The massacre sparked a national reaction against gun violence in American schools, with student protests and school strikes in the months following the tragedy.
Cruz’s defense had long ago offered a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole, only if prosecutors ruled out the death penalty option, which was initially rejected.
However, death penalty trials are divided into two distinct phases: the guilt phase and the punishment phase. A guilty plea would solve the first of these, but not the second, for which he could still be sentenced to death.
Previously, Cruz insisted that he plead not guilty to first degree first degree murder and first degree attempted murder.
Now a criminal trial awaits him, in which 12 jurors will decide his fate.
Before he committed the massacre, Cruz had been expelled from school after a past history of violence there.
Authorities even unveiled a video of the young man explaining how he intended to commit the crime he was about to commit.
“My goal is 20 people. With an AR15 and a couple of chargers I think I can do just fine. Venue Stonman Douglas in Parkland, Florida. It’s going to be a great event,” he said in the video.
In prison, he was also convicted of violent crimes after Assault on an officer in prison in January 2020.