Parkland shooting judge criticizes shooter’s attorneys during talk to law students

Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — The former judge who presided over the trial of the 2018 Parkland high school mass murderer has sharply criticized his public defenders during a presentation to Miami law students. Former Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer told the Florida International University law students Thursday that the public defenders who represented Nikolas Cruz during his 2022 death penalty trial. She said they “lost their minds” as they defended him for the killing of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. She added that they talked and made other distractions while prosecution witnesses were testifying, Broward Public Defender Gordon Weekes declined to comment on Scherer’s remarks. A state commission sanctioned Scherer after the trial, saying she showed favoritism toward the prosecution.