Nikolas Cruz, the young man who killed 17 people in 2018 in one of the worst school massacres in the United States. AFP photo
The trial of Nikolas CruzA young man who killed 17 people in 2018 in one of the worst school massacres in the United States, began pronouncing his sentence in Florida on Monday: death penalty or life sentence no chance of probation.
Sitting between two of his lawyers, the accused, 23 years oldhe listened with dejection, taking notes on some papers, to the initial statement of the main prosecutor of the case, Michael Satz, before a jury of a court in Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami.
On February 14, 2018, Cruz spread panic to Parkland, a small town north of Miami, when he entered with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman High School, from where he had been expelled a year earlier.
Within minutes he killed 14 students and three adults and injured 17, some facts for which he pleaded guilty in October.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer. AFP photo
The jury and the sanction
The shooting shocked the entire country and, in particular, South Florida, where it took nearly three months to select 12 jurors – seven men and five women – considered impartial enough to decide Cruz’s fate.
The trial will determine whether the defendant deserves to be sentenced to death, as prosecutors ask.
Under Florida law, for this to happen, the jury must reach a unanimous decision. If one of its members also refuses the death penalty, the young person’s sentence will be life imprisonment without parole.
The prosecutor described in great detail what happened on February 14, 2018 at the Parkland school, causing several relatives of the victims sitting in the room to cry.
before the jury, called Cruz “cold, calculating, manipulative and deadly”insisting on the premeditated nature of the shooting.
Cruz is “cold, calculating, manipulative and lethal,” insisting on the premeditated nature of the shooting, the prosecutor said. AFP photo
Satz recalled, for example, that the killer confessed I had recorded a video in which he announced his plans before the massacre.
“I will be the next school shooter of 2018. My goal is [matar] at least 20 people, “he said in that recording, the prosecutor recalled.
Cruz’s lawyers are expected to do so they claim their client has a mental disorder and remembers that, in October, he apologized for his actions.
Despite her psychiatric history and warnings from several relatives about her danger, Cruz was able to legally purchase a semi-automatic rifle.
at school
The process, which it will probably last several monthsit is unusual for the United States, where the perpetrators of such a massacre rarely survive their attack.
“);}} var currDuration = $ (‘#’ + currId + ‘.jw-text-countdown’)[0].textContent; $ (‘#’ + currId + ‘.jw-title-secondary p’). text (currDuration); }} if ($ (“# embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). children (). length> 0) {setTitle (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”); } else {jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘ready’, function (event) {setTitle (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”); var labelVideo = JSON.parse (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylistItem); n_score .StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”), {publisherId: “6906409”, labelmapping: ‘c3 = “‘ + labelVideo.c3 + ‘”, c4 = “* null”, c6 = “* null”, ns_site = ” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_site +’ “, ns_st_dt =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_dt +’ “, ns_st_pl =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_pl +’ “, ns_st_ep =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_ep +’ “, ns_st_pr =” ‘+ label_Video.ns. “, ns_st_mp =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_mp +’ “, ns_st_cl =” ‘+ labelVideo.ns_st_cl +’ “, ns_st_pu =” Clarin Digital “, ns_st_st =” ‘+ labelVideo.c3 +’ “‘});}); } jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘pause’, function (event) {var passId = “embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”; var site = “clarin”; if (site == ‘clarin’) {if ($ (‘# customTitleFor ‘+ passId) .length == 0) {var title = jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist ()[0].title; // $ ($ (“#” + passId + “.genoaPlayerV3 .vjs-overlay.vjs-overlay-top.vjs-overlay-background”)). addClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + IDpass) .append (“
“+ title +”
“); $ (” # customTitleFor “+ passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: block’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-media “). addClass (‘degraded’);} else {var curTitle = $ (“# customTitleFor” + passId)[0].textContent; var newTitle = jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist ()[0].title; if (newTitle! = curTitle) {$ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .text (newTitle); } $ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: block’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). addClass (‘degraded’); } // $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). addClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-play”). css (“display”, “block”); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-pause”). css (“display”, “none”); } else {$ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). addClass (‘degraded’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-title”). css (‘display’, ‘block’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display”). css (‘display’, ‘flex’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-rewind”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-next”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); } sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘pause’); }); jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘play’, function (event) {var passId = “embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”; var site = “clarin”; if (site == ‘clarin’) {if ($ (‘# customTitleFor’ + passId) .length! = 0) {$ (“# customTitleFor” + passId) .attr (‘style’, ‘display: none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-media”). removeClass (‘degraded’);} // $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-controlbar”). removeClass (‘disabled’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-play” ) .css (“display”, “none”); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-svg-icon-pause”). css (“display”, “block”);} else {$ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-media “). removeClass (‘degraded’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-title “). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-controlbar “). css (‘display’, ‘block’); $ (” # “+ passId +” .jw-display “). css (‘display’, ‘flex’) ; $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-rewind”). css (‘display’, ‘none’); $ (“#” + passId + “.jw-display-icon-next” ) .css (‘display’, ‘none’);} sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘resume’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘firstFrame’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘start’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘complete’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘complete’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘adStarted’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘adstart’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘adPlay’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘adplay’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘adPause’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘adpause’);}); jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). on (‘adComplete’, function (event) {sendData (jwplayer (“embeb_Z7ZBpLu0”). getPlaylist (), ‘adcomplete’);});
Gerard Martinez
Source: Clarin
