Nikolas Cruz trial: Closing arguments conclude in Parkland shooting case as jury consider death penalty
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Closing arguments have concluded in the sentencing trial of Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who murdered 14 students and three staff members in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018.
Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, have argued that Cruz, now 24, planned his attack – researching other mass shooters online and leaving comments about his desires to kill people.
The defence has argued that Cruz suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) because of being exposed to alcohol in the womb. They say that this contributed to his actions that day.
However, the prosecution argues that the aggravating factors in the case far outweigh such mitigating factors as laid out by the defence. Prosecutor Mike Satz concluded by saying: “The appropriate sentence for Nikolas Cruz is the death penalty.”
Defence attorney Melisa McNeill argued: “You now know that Nicholas is a brain-damaged, broken, mentally ill person, through no fault of his own ... He did not have control over who his biological mother is.”
Jurors will begin deliberations on Wednesday where they will decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or to execution.
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Closing arguments to begin
Closing arguments are set to begin in the sentencing trial of Nikolas Cruz.
Jurors will then begin deliberations on Wednesday where they will decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or to death.
Prosecutor Mike Satz begins state's closing argument
Prosecutor Mike Satz has begun delivering the state's closing arguments.
He described the mass shooting as a “systematic massacre” where Cruz showed “unrelentless cruelyy” to his victims.
“Testimony revealed the unspeakable, horrific brutality and the unrelentless cruelty that thedefendant performed in the 1200 building on February 14 2018,” he said.
Prosecutor: Cruz’s online statements are ‘window to soul'
Prosecutor Mike Satz said that Cruz’s online statements are a “window to his soul” as he urged jurors to review his YouTube comments and videos.
“It has been said that what one writes and what one says is a window into someone’s soul and some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: ‘no mercy, no questions, double tap’, ‘I’m going to kill a s*** ton of people and murder children’,” he said.
“And on July 4 2017, ‘I love to see the families suffer.’”
He told jurors to look at “every YouTube comment, every search”, saying that “what someone writes and someone says is a window into the soul”.
Mr Satz is laying out all of the planning that Cruz carried out in the build-up to that day in February 2018, recalling what had been told to the court in testimony.
“He did all of that research. And then what else do you do after you do your research? You get all your details in order. Was he detailed? Let’s look at what he does…”
Mr Satz covers what Cruz chose to wear, how he modified the gun, packed his equipment, and what he told the Uber driver that day.
Cruz’s preparation comes across as grimly meticulous in Mr Satz’s presentation.
Mr Satz takes the jury full circle to a moment-by-moment account of the massacre, explaining where Cruz was and who he came into contact with, in a similar way he did in the opening statements.
We are reminded of each and every one of Cruz’s victims, including where and how they died.
One parent leaves the courtroom in apparent distress.
The victims
14 students and 3 members of staff were murdered by Cruz on 14 February 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The prosecution is recounting in graphic detail how they died.
Alyssa Alhadeff, 14
Scott Beigel, 35
Martin Duque, 14
Nicholas Dworet, 17
Aaron Feis, 37
Jaime Guttenberg, 14
Chris Hixon, 49
Luke Hoyer, 15
Cara Loughran, 14
Gina Montalto, 14
Joaquin Oliver, 17
Alaina Petty, 14
Meadow Pollack, 18
Helena Ramsay, 17
Alex Schachter, 14
Carmen Schentrup, 16
Peter Wang, 15
Mr Satz plays video evidence to the court that is not being released to the public: “I just want you to see how tactical and purposeful his actions are.”
After they watch this video, Mr Satz said he will review what the aggravating factors are in this case in the prosecution’s push for the death penalty.
A timeline of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
A timeline of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Former student finally facing judgement for attack that killed 17 people and wounded 17 others in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018
Seven aggravating factors for jury to consider
Mr Satz originally laid out the seven aggravating factors for the jury to consider during his opening statement back in July. They are:
1 - The defendant has previously been convicted of a capital felony or a felony involving the use or threat of use of violence. Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 first-degree murders, and 17 attempted murders, and also attacked a prison officer months after his arrest which led to three more convictions — battery, attempted battery and taking means of protection from a law enforcement officer.
2 - The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death for many people.
3 - The first-degree murders (all 17 of them) were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
4 - The murders were cold, calculated, and premeditated.
5 - The murders were done to disrupt or hinder a governmental function (schooling).
6 - The victims were appointed public officials in the performance of their duties (the three members of staff).
7 - The murders were committed during the course of a burglary (by entering the school without permission, Cruz was technically committing burglary).
Mr Satz states that the aggravating factors far outweigh any mitigating circumstances — anything about his background, childhood, schooling, mental health, therapy, or care.
What are the mitigating factors?
Mr Satz continues his closing arguments by unpicking the mitigating factors as laid out by the Nikolas Cruz defence team.
They include his birth mother’s abuse of alcohol and cocaine during her pregnancy, leading to possible fetal alcohol syndrome; his severe mental and emotional problems; his alleged sexual abuse by a “trusted peer”; the bullying he endured; and his adoptive father’s death when he was 5 and his adoptive mother’s four months before the 14 February 2018 attack at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Mr Satz says that Cruz’s various disorders “certainly did not cause the defendant to abuse animals, to hate women, to have racist obsessions, or to cause him to murder 14 children and three of their caretakers”, adding that the evidence shows that he also has “planning and reasoning abilities”.