‘A Real Shocker’: Legal Analysts React to Parkland Shooter Avoiding Death Penalty
Legal analysts reacted on Thursday to a jury recommending that Nikolas Cruz, the man who shot and killed 17 people and injured 17 others, a sentence of life without parole, thereby sparring him the death penalty.
CNN legal analyst Paul Callan called the decision “a real shocker”:
It’s a real shocker, I mean, given, first of all, the crime itself. Prosecutors proved a crime that was cruel, it was premeditated it was calculated. The jury unanimously found that aggravating circumstances existed which would support the imposition of the death penalty.
So it certainly sounded like this jury was going to impose the death penalty. But the last question had to do with mitigating circumstances. And apparently one or possibly more of the jurors thought there was some mitigating circumstances. We don’t know what mitigating circumstance they’re talking about, although the aggravating circumstances are outlined in detail. The specifics of what mitigating circumstance existed, we don’t know.
And so finally, under Florida law, Finally, under Florida law, if you don’t have a unanimous decision that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances, then the death penalty cannot be imposed. So obviously one or more of these jurors thought that there were mitigating circumstances that should prevent the imposition.
On MSNBC, attorney David Weinstein noted that the judge overseeing the case, Elizabeth Scherer, is “powerless to impose any sentence other than life imprisonment because she’s powerless to impose any sentence other than life imprisonment because that’s what the jury recommended. And under the case law and the current statute, that’s what she must do.”
Other legal analysts reacted on Twitter:
It’s rare to get a death penalty verdict in South Florida. I respect the jury’s decision in the Nikolas Cruz case, but if the death penalty doesn’t apply to the slaughter of 17 innocents — nearly all children — then when?
— Dave Aronberg (@aronberg) October 13, 2022
They were more compassionate than I would have been but I respect the jury’s decision. https://t.co/haVWZihwof
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) October 13, 2022
To appreciate America’s deep respect for human life and the sanctity thereof, observe how upset we get when a jury doesn’t give a murderer the death penalty.
— RegimeHat (@Popehat) October 13, 2022
Scherer did not impose the life sentence following the verdict, rather pushed the sentencing to Nov. 1 so that family members of the victims can make statements before the court in accordance with Florida law.
Watch above via CNN.
