FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Defense attorneys for Nikolas Cruz want to remove Broward County State Attorney Michael Satz for refusing to reconsider the death penalty and because they claim he called the Parkland school shooter "evil; worse than Ted Bundy."
A motion filed Aug. 30 seeks to disqualify Satz's office from prosecuting the case.
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Satz, who is lead attorney in the upcoming trial, told the lead defense attorney in February that "there is no mitigating evidence he would consider and that he will not waive the death penalty in this case," defense attorneys wrote in their motion to remove Satz.
The motion goes on to explain that Satz said he believes Cruz is "evil; worse than Ted Bundy."
Bundy was a serial killer who was executed in Florida for the murder of Kimberly Leach, a 12-year-old Lake City girl. He confessed to killing 30 women from Washington to Florida but is believed to have killed even more.
"Satz has failed in fulfilling his ethical duties as a state attorney because he is refusing to consider any evidence regarding Mr. Cruz's background and characteristics, and is instead proceeding based on his personal opinion and animus toward Mr. Cruz," Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein and assistant public defenders Melisa McNeill, Joseph Burke and Gabriel Ermine wrote.
Cruz killed 17 people during the Valentine's Day 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.