FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The jurors who will be deciding the fate of the Parkland school shooter were preparing to listen to more witness testimony from the defense during his trial’s death penalty phase on Thursday morning in Broward County court in Fort Lauderdale when the defense moved for a mistrial.
Carrie Yon, a teacher who met Nikolas Cruz as an eighth-grade student in her language arts classroom, was waiting on Zoom to testify about his misbehavior. But her testimony couldn’t begin because attorneys were arguing whether or not to admit some of his antisemitic drawings.
“It’s just one of those prejudicial hate symbols in the world,” Assistant Public Defender Tamara Curtis said about the swastikas Cruz drew and how these could influence the jury’s final decision on the death penalty.
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer denied the defense’s motion to redact the Nazi symbols on specific drawings that were being admitted into evidence and also denied what she referred to as the defense’s “anticipatory mistrial” strategy.
WITNESS TESTIMONY
Yon said Cruz’s behavior was so concerning that she had raised it to the attention of others at Westglades Middle School, and she decided to keep his homework and her log longer than usual. Yon agreed Cruz behaved like a bully.
“He was not kind to other kids,” Yon said.
One of the drawings, on display for jurors to see, showed stick figures in sexual positions and expletives. Others showed shootings, weapons, racist language, and antisemitic symbols. In a form a teacher used to ask him about creating a company and its advertisement, he focused on a “sex toy” and a “sex boat.”
“He was extremely impulsive and erratic with his behavior so it was just random outbursts,” Yon said adding that Cruz lacked “self-control” around her.
Yon noted in reports from 2013-14 that Cruz was defiant, aggressive, regularly used profanity, “stuck his middle finger up,” threatened to attack other students, made “obscene” gestures, pretended to masturbate in class, and darted into the road in front of a car during a fire drill. His behavior scared her at times.
“As I walked past him he made a move as if he was going to lunge at me and laughed. I ignored his behavior,” Yon wrote in one of her notes, and in another added he “lunged at her.”
Yon said she reached out to the Broward Teachers Union’s attorney to discuss Cruz after concluding that he was “a danger” to her, the students, and the school.
“It didn’t feel safe for anyone,” Yon said adding that Cruz “needed to be in a different environment that would help him” and “he couldn’t function in that environment and I didn’t feel like it was safe for him to be in that environment.”
John Vesey, the former principal of Westglades Middle School, said he still remembered Cruz’s “neediness” and his adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, who reported he didn’t get along with his brother Zachary Cruz.
“He struggled significantly,” Vesey said adding, “He was not successful in core courses at all.”
Vesey said Cruz was “very difficult” and left a trail of “disgusting vulgarities.” He also said Cruz was “explosive” in the classroom and his behavior “deteriorated significantly” over time.
Vesey read a report he wrote when Cruz was in eighth grade. He believed Cruz’s “behavior creates chaos” and teachers were becoming “more afraid of him” and he was destroying school property and getting involved in petty theft.
“His academic and emotional needs were too extreme for him to be successful in that kind of environment,” Vesey said.
MOVE FOR MISTRIAL
Before Yon’s testimony, Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill said the trial should be rendered invalid through an error in the proceedings over their several requests for Scherer to rule on their request to omit the swastikas as a violation of “fair trial rights.”
“This is not a strategic decision,” McNeill said.
Related story: Defense says motion for mistrial relates to handling of ‘prejudicial’ evidence
Assistant State Attorney Jeff Marcus disagreed. He argued the drawings in question were not related to the motion that McNeill was referring to. Marcus said the defense was well aware of the issue and the move for a mistrial was their strategy.
“The defense has already opened the door to mental health testimony,” Marcus said about the swastika being a symptom of Cruz’s anti-social personality disorder.
WITNESS TAMPERING ALLEGATION
After the judge admonished attorneys over court decorum, McNeill asked Scherer for a 24-hour recess and she accused Marcus of joining a conference call with Vesey on Thursday morning that should prevent the state from seeking the death penalty.
McNeill said there needed to be an investigation on the phone call Vesey received from his “personal friend” Attorney Christopher Whitelock, who represents several Broward County Public Schools employees, and introduced Marcus to the call.
Related story: Parkland school shooter’s defense claims alleged misconduct is basis to ‘prohibit’ death penalty
“They said to him that they had concerns about his testimony today and how it could impact the district and how it could impact the individuals who work for the district,” McNeill said adding that Vesey said he felt “like they were trying to prohibit him from testifying.”
McNeill reported the call as possible witness tampering and potential prosecutorial misconduct. Marcus admitted to the phone call, but not to the alleged nature of it.
“This is totally not true. I did have a conversation. I called his lawyer, asked him if I could speak to his client and we spoke about what his testimony would be,” Marcus said. “Mr. Whitelock heard the conversation. I have every confidence that Mr. Whitelock would think that it was an appropriate conversation.”
CASE STATUS
McNeill delivered her opening statement on Aug. 22 to attribute the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre in Parkland to Cruz being “damaged.” She later said the defense team had over 80 witnesses.
The defense has presented 21 witnesses in eight days, including Cruz’s biological half-sister and a recovering addict who was arrested with his biological mother for cocaine possession when she was pregnant with Cruz. The defense also called two psychiatrists and a clinical psychologist who treated Cruz for ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder.
During cross-examination, prosecutors sought to establish that Cruz’s mental health disorders and developmental delays were not “severe enough” to explain why at 19 he walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s 1200 building with a loaded AR-15 to kill.
In October, Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
The prosecutors who are seeking the death penalty for Cruz rested their case on Aug. 4, after calling 91 witnesses in 12 days, including the 17 survivors injured and the loved ones of the 17 killed who read victim impact statements.
The defense needs only one of the 12 jurors to oppose the death sentence. Without a unanimous jury vote, Cruz will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Scherer said the court was in recess until 9 a.m. on Friday.
Watch the 4 p.m. report
Watch the 5 p.m. report
Watch the 6 p.m. report
LEGAL TERMS: Aggravating or mitigating factors or circumstances
Aggravating: Increases the severity or culpability of a criminal act and leads to harsher punishment. The prosecution team that is seeking the death penalty focuses on evidence to support this.
Mitigating: Lessens the severity or culpability of a criminal act. The defense team that is working to save Cruz’s life is presenting evidence to support this.
- Mitigation specialist: A member of the defense team whose task is to persuade a jury not to impose the death penalty.
Prejudicial: The term is used to describe evidence with the potential of causing the jury to develop an unfair bias against Cruz.
Source: Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
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