Nikolas Cruz sentencing: Parkland trial delayed due to hurricane threat in Florida

Judge Elizabeth Scherer has dismissed the jurors for lunch.

The jury had not yet returned from the morning break as the defence and prosecution continue to argue about evidence that can be presented in court.

At around 11.30am, the judge decided to tell jurors they could break for lunch as the housekeeping is likely to continue for at least another 15 minutes.

The afternoon session will resume at 1pm ET.

During the recess, the defence and prosecution disagreed about evidence to be presented in court in the state’s rebuttal.

Prosecutors are seeking to argue that Cruz is a sociopath who planned his attack and has shown no remorse for his actions.

Part of this argument involves jurors hearing what Cruz told a doctor about the 2018 massacre.

Cruz said that when he killed student Peter Wang, he “watched his head blow up like a water balloon”, the judge heard.

He also described seeing another victim “crawling” in the stairwell after being shot. “I shot her again,” he said, according to prosecutors.

The doctor recorded how Cruz admitted to killing staff member Chris Hixon because he gave him “a nasty look”.

“The security guard gave me a nasty look so I shot him in the head,” he said.

Hixon’s widow Debbi Hixon was seen wiping away tears as she listened in the gallery.

The defence is asking the judge not to allow the state to present this evidence.

Meanwhile, lead prosecutor Mike Satz argued that it is relevant to the state’s case that he has an anti-social personality disorder, as it shows that Cruz is “callous and has no feeling for others”.

Antisocial personality disorder is a mental disorder where the individual consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Often referred to as sociopathy, people with the disorder often break the law and engage in criminality, commit acts of violence, lie and abuse alcohol and drugs.

They show no guilt or remorse for their behaviour.

Early symptoms include behavioural problems such as aggression toward people and animals, stealing, destroying property and deceitfulness. Typically, adults with the disorder will have begun showing signs and symptoms of the disorder before the age of 15.

The court is now back in session following the lunchtime recess.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer is currently ruling on motions about the admissibility of evidence and witness testimony.

The next witness called to testify is Deputy Jean Marque-Puche, who worked in the Florida jail where Nikolas Cruz was being held.

The deputy described finding disturbing notes in Cruz’s cell and scrawled onto the walls.

He was carrying out an inspection in the cell when he noticed a red drawing on top of a commissary bag, he said.

Deputy Marque-Puche said that he asked Cruz how he had drawn on the paper and was told that he used a piece of red candy.

Following the discovery, he carried on searching the cell and found a trove of notes in his bag as well as a drawing on the wall next to the toilet which “looked like blood”.

The scrawling on the wall read “666”.

Nikolas Cruz’s disturbing drawings were shown in court where he recreated the massacre and said he enjoyed causing “pain and death”.

Deputy Marque-Puche read out the notes and described what he could see in them.

In one of the harrowing images, Cruz appears to recreate the massacre at the high school he once attended.

The drawing shows what appears to be students sitting at desks in a school as a shooter opens fire.

Several of his notes also reveal an obsession with the devil, with Satanic symbols, drawings of a devil figure and repeated use of the number “666”.

He also tries to blame others for his murderous rampage, claiming the individual “sexually humiliated me on f***in Instagram” and claims that they are the “main f***ing reason why I shot up Stoneman Douglas”.

“The blood is not only on my hands but yours as well, your [sic] nothing but a worthless parasite,” he rants.

In another note, he writes “I just hope there is another mass shooting” as he appears to be advising someone to carry out such a massacre.

Cruz also appears to show his enjoyment for violence, writing that he likes “wasting everyone”.

“I like wasting eveyrone because it’s so much f***ing fun. I laugh. I laugh ... I love f***ing pain and death,” he writes.

Nikolas Cruz used his own hemorrhoids blood to write on the walls of his prison cell, jurors heard.

Under cross-examination, the deputy confirmed Cruz had told him how he used his blood to make the jailhouse scrawlings.

A photo showed “666” written on the wall in blood.

The deputy confirmed that Cruz was not disciplined over the drawings but was placed on suicide watch.

Psychiatrist Dr Charles L Scott is now on the witness stand.

He detailed his extensive career and experience, including his research into the connection between mental illness and violence.

He also has a history of assessing individuals who have claimed insanity or may have been faking symptoms such as hearing voices.

Dr Scott told the court that he has spent between 400 and 500 hours on the case since he was first contacted to lend his expertise on 11 November 2021.

The forensic psychiatrist said that he has evaluated and assessed thousands of records and also spent three days interviewing Nikolas Cruz.

Dr Scott said the records included: records relating to the day itself such as depositions, witness statements and court testimony; records about his adoption and delivery; education records; employment records; Cruz’s social media, cellphone videos and text messages; and footage of Cruz carrying out his attack and his actions in the aftermath.

He then carried out an in-person evaluation of Cruz over three full days 1, 2 and 3 March 2022.

The evaluation, which was all recorded and took place in the presence of Cruz’s lawyer, involved a comprehensive interview about his life and the day he carried out the massacre.

From his evaluation of Cruz, Dr Scott said he diagnosed the mass shooter with antisocial personality disorder.

The forensic psychiatrist said that he came to three diagnostic conclusions: antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder and malingering.

An individual is diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder if they meet three or more criteria out of seven. Cruz meets six of the seven, he said.

The first criteria is “failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviours as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest”.

One example Dr Scott gave was that Cruz murdered 17 people and attempted to murder 17 people in the Valentine’s Day massacre.

Jurors also heard an audio clip from his interview where Cruz admitted that he broke into cars looking for weapons when he was around 16.

The second criteria is deceitfulness, such as lying or conning others.

Dr Scott said education records show he meets this criteria, with multiple teachers describing him as “deceitful”.

On the day of the massacre, he also “conned” the Uber driver that he was carrying a large musical instrument as he carried the AR-15 to the school.

The third criteria is where the individual is “impulsive or has difficulty planning ahead,” he said – pointing to examples of impulsiveness noted in his education records.

Criteria four is irritability and aggressiveness that leads to physical assault. Dr Scott detailed multiple instances of violence including where he attacked his adoptive mother Lynda Cruz.

Before Lynda’s death, he hit her on the face causing her to need a dental checkup appointment, he testified, referring to records.

The fifth criteria is a reckless disregard for yourself or others. An example of this was Cruz saying it was “thrilling” to shoot his gun in his backyard because he knew he was breaking the law.

The sixth criteria is consistent irresponsibility. Dr Scott said he does not think Cruz met this criteria.

The seventh and final criteria is a lack of remorse, he said. The psychiatrist said Cruz showed this criteria, giving examples where he made derogatory comments about his mother following a fight.

Dr Scott said that an individual with antisocial personality disorder must also show “conduct disorder” before the age of 15. To meet the diagnosis for conduct disorder the individual must only show one criteria.