
She also spent time with some of the victims’ parents, some of whom decided not to speak during the sentencing hearing. The Department of Corrections was supposed to save money outsourcing healthcare for prisoners in 2011. She listed other orders that assured that he will never have a penny to his name by allowing Broward County to garnish his funds for victims’ restitution and to pay for a list of expenses, including the cost of the public defense that kept him away from the death penalty.Īfter the sentencing hearing ended, Scherer hugged the prosecutors.
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Jail calls showed Cruz was in touch with two men who had an interest in making a movie or a documentary, so Scherer also ordered him not to profit from the crimes while in prison. When these people have sat in this courtroom and watched this behavior from that table and they want to say that they are not happy about it, what is the problem?” Scherer told the defense. “When these people are upset about specific things that have gone on from that table like shooting the middle finger up at this court and laughing and joking. They didn’t name Assistant Public Defender Tamara Curtis, who wasn’t in the courtroom, but they mentioned and responded to her behavior in court. He was next to Casey Secor, his capital defense attorney, and the rest of the members of the public defense team that fought to save his life and managed to convince three of the 12 jurors to do the same.įrom the podium on Tuesday and Wednesday, some of the victims’ parents condemned the defense’s effort to “humanize” “a monster,” “a murderous bastard,” and “an animal” and accused them of “putting up a show” to “manipulate” the jurors. “I did my job, and every member of this team did our job, and we should not personally be attacked for that,” McNeill told Scherer.Īn emotionless Nikolas Cruz sat with a group of Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies behind him. The prison hired a new GED teacher this spring. McNeill’s last words in Scherer’s courtroom Wednesday were to ask that the grieving relatives of the victims not mention the defense’s children or attack the defense. Prison officials point to recent plans to bolster education at Polk C.I. The families of the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School victims got the last word during a two-day sentencing hearing that allowed them to express themselves with symbolic colors, the photographs of their loved ones on jewelry and signs - and from behind a podium.ĭuring the penalty phase, Scherer and Chief Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill had several heated exchanges.

Visits will resume as normally scheduled on May 1, 2023.

– After Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer sentenced the Parkland school shooter to 34 consecutive mandatory life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole and remanded him to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections, the 24-year-old convicted felon waited in the Broward County main jail. Centennial Correctional Facility is cancelling visitation April 28-April 30, 2023.
