FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The penalty phase for the Parkland school shooter’s trial started six months ago in April as a methodical process as thousands of people were screened to potentially sit on this historic jury.
It took 25 days spanning several weeks for the court to identify the 12 people who will decide if the Parkland shooter will pay for the murders of 17 people with his own life.
The Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.
Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to killing 17 students and staff members, which set up the penalty phase that started with jury selection in April.
“So you did participate in listening to what they said and the selection process, correct?” Broward County Judge Elizabeth Scherer asked Cruz.
“Yes,” he responded.
On June 29, the court swore in the 12 people who will consider whether Cruz, now 24, should be sentenced to life or death.
There are seven men and five women in the 12-member panel.
They include a university claims adjuster, a retail stocking supervisor, a probation officer, a human resources worker, a former music industry worker now employed at a family-run business and a former French military officer who currently works in the financial sector.
“It was the draft over there, so it is not like it is a career -- it was mandatory service,” that juror said in court.
Another juror is an immigration officer who served in the U.S. military.
“In 2016, (I) got out, took a year off doing hippie stuff, and then in 2018, joined the federal government,” the juror said.
There’s also the medical device compliance investigator who likes romance movies and explained why she has great respect for police:
“My dad was a police chief,” she said.
During jury selection, the defense asked for their views about young people playing violent first-person shooter video games.
Here’s what a juror in this case – a computer technician with three small children -- had to say:
“I don’t see a difference between watching a military movie or playing that game, other than the fact you are controlling it.”
An IT analyst whose mom is a licensed mental health counselor offered another take on the same question.
“I don’t personally have kids, so don’t have that say, but it depends on the kid -- how mature they are, if they can tell the difference between a game and reality.”
There is also a legal assistant who said they have gotten some mental health counseling themselves.
And a Broward library worker told the court they have had a positive experience with mental health services.
All said, they could put any personal bias or beliefs aside to fairly consider and weigh the evidence before deciding whether they recommend life or death.
Ten alternates were also sworn-in.