FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The defense team that is working to save the Parkland school shooter’s life rested their case on Sept. 14, after calling 26 witnesses during 11 days of testimony.
The team started to call witnesses after Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill delivered her opening statement on Aug. 22. McNeill said on Aug. 23 that the defense team had over 80 witnesses to call during the death penalty phase in the case of the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre in Parkland. The defense also submitted a list of 2,000 potential witnesses.
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The prosecution team that is seeking the death penalty rested their case on Aug. 4, after calling 91 witnesses in 12 days, including the 17 injured on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer is presiding over the case.
- Carolyn Deakins: A friend of Brenda Woodard, Cruz’s biological mother. Read more here >
- Danielle Woodard: Cruz’s biological sister and a convicted felon who is awaiting trial in Miami-Dade County for a 2020 aggravated battery, robbery, and carjacking case. Read more here >
- Susan Hendler-Lubar: The teacher said she met Cruz while working in exceptional student education when he was three years old. She worked at the Broward Children’s Center. Read more >
- Anne Marie Fischer: The former director of the Young Minds Learning Center where Nikolas Cruz was a student.
- Patricia “Trish” Devaney-Westerlind: A former Parkland resident who considered Lynda Cruz a friend. Read jail call records >
- John Newnham: A former Broward County Public Schools counselor who saw Cruz at Coral Springs Elementary School.
- Frederick M. Kravitz: A clinical psychologist who treated Nikolas Cruz as a child.
- Steven Schusler: He said he was a tenant who lived in front of Cruz’s home in Parkland for about six years.
- Caridad Harvey: The licensed mental health counselor was formerly known as Caridad Lancho.
- Dr. Laurie Karpf: Psychiatrist who treated Cruz from 2008 to 2011. Read more here >
- Dr. Brett J. Negin: Psychiatrist who treated Cruz from 2012 to 2017. Read more here>
- Lynne Rodriguez: Veteran special education teacher who was Cruz’s third-grade teacher.
- Finai Browd: Lynda Cruz’s friend was deposed on July 14. The defense played a video.
- Shameka Stanford: Speech and language pathologist in the field of criminology
- Browd: The defense played the rest of the July 14 deposition video first presented on Aug. 29.
- Jessica Clark Flournoy: A former exceptional student education counselor at Westglades Middle School.
- Susan Skolly-Danziger: A pharmacist with expertise in forensic toxicology.
- Paul Gold: A former neighbor of Cruz’s family in Parkland who talked to Cruz about making a movie.
- James Snell: Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy who responded to Cruz’s home in 2011.
- Gary Michalosky: Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to Cruz’s home in 2012 and 2013.
- Carrie Yon: A Westglades Middle School teacher who met Cruz in 8th grade during her language arts class.
- John Vesey: The former principal of Westglades Middle School.
- Tiffany Forres: She met Cruz while working as a case manager for Henderson Behavioral Health.
- Jeffrey Smith: A BSO detective who responded to Cruz’s home.
- Liliana Pardo-Posse: A retired Broward County schools social worker who met Lynda Cruz while assessing Nikolas Cruz.
- Paul Connor: A licensed clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist.
- Connor: The licensed clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist to finish his testimony.
- Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones: A pediatrician and academic researcher who is known as the “Father of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome” for his research on the subject.
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