Friday 14 October 2022 02:34 PM Prosecutors in trial of mass shooter Nikolas Cruz says juror was THREATENED in ... trends now
Prosecutors are demanding an investigation into allegations a juror was ‘threatened’ in deliberations of weather to sentence Nikolas Cruz to death.
A juror called the Broward State Attorney’s Office immediately after the verdict was announced that Cruz, 24, would be given life in prison without parole.
She informed staff that she received ‘what she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror’ while in the jury room.
Lead prosecutor in the case Mike Satz is now calling for law enforcement to speak to the juror as they believe a ‘crime may have been committed’.
The majority of the jurors wanted Cruz to receive the death penalty for the 17 murders he committed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentines Day 2018.
Florida law requires the death penalty recommendation to be unanimous to impose the fatal sentence, and the jurors did not all agree in the case of Cruz – sparking emotional outbursts from relatives of the victims.
Prosecutors are asking for the investigation under a criminal procedure which allows for it in cases where the ‘verdict may be subject to challenge’.
However it is unlikely that the allegations made by the juror of misconduct will change the outcome of the trial, as it was in Cruz’ favor.
A juror called the Broward State Attorney’s office after the verdict was announced and asked to speak to lead prosecutor in the case Mike Satz, claiming that they had been threatened
A juror wrote a note to Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer describing heated deliberations over the fate of Nikolas Cruz, who escaped the death penalty for the Parkland school massacre after the juror maintained their vote for life in prison
Cruz, 24, is seen embracing Chief Assistant Public Defender David Wheeler and smiling after it was revealed that the confessed killer would be getting life in prison - not the death penalty. Cruz killed 17 people at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018
The decision left parents devastated. Ilan and Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter died in the slaying, comforted each other as the 17 verdicts were detailed in court
PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS: Top Row L-R: Jaime Guttenberg, Nicholas Dworet, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Cara Loughran -- Second Row L-R: Alyssa Alhadeff, Luke Hoyer, Joaquin Oliver, Gina Montalto -- Third Row L-R: Alaina Petty, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Alex Schachter -- Fourth Row L-R: Helena Ramsey, Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon
Threatening a juror under Florida law is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, with a hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon to discuss the motion.
It is unclear if the threatened juror voted for life or death, but Denise Cunha wrote a letter to the judge that others were ‘extremely unhappy’ with her decision.
Cunha, one of the five women on the panel, was the sole juror who maintained her decision that Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison.
In a letter submitted to Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, the juror recalled heated debates with the jury over the fate of Cruz.
She claimed that despite rumors that they had already made up their mind prior to the trial, they remained 'fair and unbiased' in making their allegedly unpopular decision.
'The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.'
Tweeting the play-by-play in court, reporter Christina Boomer said that the jury came out of deliberation with several members visibly upset and with one woman nearly in tears.
Gena Hoyer holds a photograph of her son, Luke, as she awaited the verdicts to be read out in court
Peter Wang's mother Hui Wang wipes away a tear after the jury rejected a death sentence for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz
Linda Beigel Schulman, Michael Schulman, Patricia Padauy Oliver and Fred Guttenberg all embraced ahead of the verdicts being read out
Emotional members of the families were seen with their head in their hands as the jury made their way through the list of the 17 victims
By the time the jury presented their verdict for the judge to read aloud, two female jurors were already sobbing, and several male jurors were hunched over and keeping their heads down.
Boomer noted that there was a sole female juror who kept calm through the entire proceedings, juxtaposing the anguish of the rest of the jury.
The calm juror, who took sips from a coffee mug during the proceedings, was reportedly a Broward County library worker who previously worked as a church administrator .
Other members of the jury included a university staffer, a retail stocking supervisor, a probation
