Parkland shooter's death penalty trial nears its end as the prosecution and defense prepare to make their closing arguments - CNN

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Closing arguments began Tuesday greeting successful the sentencing proceedings of the Parkland schoolhouse shooter – the past accidental for prosecutors and defence attorneys to marque their lawsuit earlier the assemblage that volition assistance determine whether the gunman is sentenced to decease oregon beingness successful prison.

The imminent decision of the monthslong proceedings comes almost a twelvemonth aft Nikolas Cruz, 24, pleaded blameworthy to 17 counts of execution and 17 counts of attempted execution for the February 14, 2018, massacre astatine Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, successful which 14 students and 3 schoolhouse unit members were killed.

“What 1 writes, what 1 says, is simply a model to someone’s soul,” pb authoritative Michael Satz said astatine the commencement of his closing argument, encouraging jurors to reappraisal the gunman’s online comments expressing his tendency to transportation retired a wide sidesplitting and the searches helium made for accusation astir however to bash so.

“What helium wanted to do, what his program was and what helium did, was to execution children astatine schoolhouse and their caretakers,” Satz said. “That’s what helium wanted to do.”

Jury deliberations are expected to statesman Wednesday, during which clip jurors volition beryllium sequestered, per Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer.

Prosecutors, who are seeking the decease penalty, person argued Cruz’s determination to commit the deadliest wide shooting astatine an American precocious school was premeditated and calculated and not, arsenic the defence has suggested, related to immoderate intelligence disorders oregon developmental delays.

The authorities completed its rebuttal past week, which included video successful which Cruz told objective neuropsychologist Dr. Robert Denney helium chose to transportation retired the shooting connected Valentine’s Day due to the fact that helium “felt similar nary 1 loved me, and I didn’t similar Valentine’s Day and I wanted to ruin it for everyone.”

Denney, who spent much than 400 hours with the gunman, testified for the prosecution helium concluded Cruz has borderline property upset and anti-social property disorder, but did not conscionable the criteria for fetal intoxicant spectrum disorder, arsenic the defence has contended.

When work the database of names of the 17 radical killed and asked if fetal intoxicant spectrum upset explained their murders, Denney responded “no” each time.

The defense, successful seeking to contiguous the assemblage with mitigating circumstances – reasons wherefore Cruz should not beryllium sentenced to decease but to beingness successful situation without the anticipation of parole – has offered grounds of a beingness of struggles astatine location and successful school, including being calved to a pistillate who abused drugs and intoxicant portion she was large with Cruz.

If they take to urge a decease sentence, the jurors indispensable beryllium unanimous, oregon Cruz volition person beingness successful situation without the anticipation of parole. If the assemblage does urge death, the last determination rests with Judge Scherer, who could take to travel the proposal oregon condemnation Cruz to life.

The lengthy proceedings – assemblage enactment began six months ago, successful aboriginal April – has seen prosecutors and defence attorneys contiguous grounds of aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances, reasons Cruz should oregon should not beryllium enactment to death.

Prosecutors person argued Cruz was “cold, calculative, manipulative and deadly” successful carrying retired the attack, which Satz called “planned” and “systematic” successful his opening connection successful July. The authorities pointed to 7 aggravating factors, helium said, including the information the killings were “especially heinous, atrocious oregon cruel.”

“These aggravating factors acold outweigh immoderate mitigating circumstances,” Satz said successful July, “anything astir the defendant’s background, thing astir his childhood, thing astir his schooling, thing astir his intelligence health, thing astir his therapy, thing astir his care.”

Underscoring their argument, prosecutors presented grounds showing the gunman spent months searching online for accusation about wide shootings and near down societal media comments sharing his explicit tendency to “kill people.”

Some of his Google searches included broad, generic terms, similar “murder” oregon “shooting people.” Others indicated helium sought accusation connected circumstantial wide shootings and the radical who carried them out. He besides searched for a representation of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, from which he’d been expelled, and for accusation connected “how agelong does it instrumentality for a bull to amusement up astatine a schoolhouse shooting.” And connected YouTube, Cruz near comments similar “Im going to beryllium a nonrecreational schoolhouse shooter,” and promised to “go connected a sidesplitting rampage.”

As portion of the prosecution’s case, household members of the victims were fixed the accidental to instrumentality the basal and connection earthy and affectional grounds astir however Cruz’s actions had everlastingly changed their lives. At 1 point, adjacent members of Cruz’s ain defence squad were brought to tears.

“Our household is broken. There is this changeless emptiness,” Max Schachter, the begetter of 14-year-old unfortunate Alex Schachter, testified.

“I consciousness I can’t genuinely beryllium blessed if I smile,” Schachter said. “I cognize that down that grin is the crisp realization that portion of maine volition ever beryllium bittersweet and miserable due to the fact that Alex isn’t here.”

But earlier the prosecution rested, jurors besides visited the tract of the massacre, Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ 1200 building, which had been sealed since the shooting to sphere the transgression country – littered with dried blood, Valentine’s Day cards and students’ belongings – for the trial.

In their ain case, the nationalist defenders assigned to correspond Cruz asked the assemblage to instrumentality into relationship his troubled history, from a dysfunctional household beingness to superior intelligence and developmental issues, with lawyer Melisa McNeill describing him arsenic a “damaged and wounded” person.

“His encephalon is broken,” she said. “He’s a damaged quality being.”

Among the archetypal witnesses was Cruz’s older sister, Danielle Woodard, who testified their mother, Brenda Woodard, utilized drugs and drank intoxicant portion large with him – thing McNeill said made his encephalon “irretrievably broken” done nary responsibility of his own.

“She introduced maine to a beingness that nary kid should beryllium introduced to,” she said. “She had nary regards for my beingness oregon his life.”

The defence besides called teachers and educators who spoke to developmental issues and delays Cruz exhibited arsenic a young child, including challenges with vocabulary and centrifugal skills. Various counselors and psychiatrists besides testified, offering their observations from years of treating oregon interacting with Cruz.

Former Broward County schoolhouse territory counsellor John Newnham testified Cruz’s world achievements successful simple schoolhouse were beneath expectations. Cruz would picture himself arsenic “stupid” and a “freak,” Newnham said.

Despite these evident issues, Cruz’s adoptive mother, the precocious Lynda Cruz, was reluctant to question help, according to the grounds of a adjacent person who lived down the thoroughfare from the family, Trish Devaney Westerlind.

Newnham’s grounds echoed that: While Lynda Cruz was a caring mother, aft the decease of her husband, she would inquire for assistance but not usage the enactment available.

“She was overwhelmed,” Newnham said. “She appeared to deficiency immoderate of the basal foundations of affirmative parenting.”

Westerlind inactive accepts calls from Cruz and, says though he’s successful his 20s, Cruz inactive talks similar an 11-year-old child.

Cruz’s attorneys acknowledged arsenic helium grew older helium developed a fascination with firearms, and schoolhouse unit raised concerns astir his behaviour to authorities, McNeill said.

In June 2014, an teen psychiatrist and a schoolhouse therapist astatine the schoolhouse Cruz attended astatine the clip wrote a missive to an extracurricular psychiatrist treating Cruz, successful which they expressed interest Cruz had go verbally assertive and had a “preoccupation with guns” and “dreams of sidesplitting others.”

The psychiatrist, Dr. Brett Negin, who testified helium treated Cruz betwixt the ages of 13 and 18, said helium ne'er received the letter.

The defense’s lawsuit came to an unexpected extremity past period erstwhile – having called conscionable 26 of 80 planned witnesses – nationalist defenders assigned to correspond Cruz abruptly rested, starring the justice to admonish the squad for what she said was unprofessionalism, resulting successful a courtroom squabble betwixt her and the defence (the assemblage was not present).

Scherer went connected to question Cruz astir the determination to rest, making definite helium had an accidental to sermon it with his lawyers and understood it meant nary 1 else, including his member Zachary Cruz, would instrumentality the basal successful his defense.

“Are you comfy with the decision?” Scherer asked.

“Yes,” Cruz replied.

Defense attorneys would aboriginal record a question to disqualify the justice for her comments, arguing successful portion they suggested the justice was not impartial and Cruz’s close to a just proceedings had been undermined. Prosecutors disagreed, penning “judicial comments, adjacent of a captious oregon hostile nature, are not grounds for disqualification.”

Scherer yet denied the motion.

Prosecutors past presented their rebuttal, concluding past week following a three-day delay attributed to Hurricane Ian.

As portion of the rebuttal, 1 erstwhile Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School pupil testified Cruz had a backpack with a swastika drawn connected it, on with the n-word and different explicit language.

Separately, objective neuropsychologist Denney testified Cruz was “trying to look bad” successful tests Denney administered to the shooter successful March.

“Mr. Cruz is grossly exaggerating his self-report, successful presumption of terrible psychiatric problems, terrible representation problems, cognitive issues, carnal problems – helium is exaggerating each of it,” Denney testified.

Correction: An earlier mentation of this communicative misspelled the archetypal sanction of defence lawyer Melisa McNeill.