FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — After the jurors in the Parkland school shooter’s case were dismissed Thursday, the foreman Benjamin Thomas said only three of the 17 jurors disagreed with the death penalty.
One of those jurors, a woman who works as a compliance investigator for the medical device firm, filed a handwritten letter in Broward County court addressed to Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer.
It revealed just how divided the jury was about the verdict.
“The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life,” she wrote.
Another woman serving on the jury “heard jurors who voted for the death penalty stating that I had already made up my mind on voting for life before the trial started,” she wrote. “This allegation is untrue.”
The jury’s disagreement resulted in the recommendation for life in prison without the possibility of parole for Nikolas Cruz.
Related story: Life for Parkland school shooter: Most jurors wanted death; 3 disagreed
Read the letter:
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