Parkland school shooting suspect can’t be called ‘animal’ at trial

(RHONA WISE, Rhona Wise/AFP/Getty Images)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A judge says a former student accused of murdering 17 people at a Parkland high school cannot be called “animal” or “that thing” during his upcoming trial.

Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ruled Friday that it’s impossible to create a complete list of words prosecutors and witnesses won’t be allowed to use to describe Nikolas Cruz.

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She sided with his lawyers in ruling out derogatory terms when he’s tried for the 2018 killings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.

But she rejected a defense request that Cruz not be called “school shooter,” “killer” or “murderer.”