Lawyers for Florida school shooter Nicholas Cruz asked the judge in the murder case to dislodge herself Friday, two days after reprimanding them when they abruptly halted their case after calling only a small portion of their expected witnesses.
The Broward Office of the Solicitor General said in a motion that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Shearer harbors a long-running animosity toward lead defense attorney Melissa McNeil.
The application cited the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct which states that a judge must disqualify himself if a judge’s impartiality can reasonably be called into question, including but not limited to cases in which a judge has personal bias or prejudice with respect to a party’s attorney or party. Defense attorneys said Shearer’s repeated, inappropriate and unwarranted attacks on defense attorneys undermined public confidence in the judicial system and also caused Cruz to fear he would not receive a fair trial.
Prosecutors said in response that Scherer was respectful on both sides.
Cruz’s lawyers told the judge and prosecutors that they would call 80 witnesses, but surprisingly they were relieved at the start of Wednesday’s court session after only 25 of them were called.
There were 11 days of defense testimony overall, with the last two experts highlighting how his mother’s excessive use of alcohol during pregnancy affected his brain development and led to him killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland four years ago.
The surprise announcement by lead attorney McNeill led to a heated exchange between her and Shearer, who described the decision without warning to her or the prosecution as “the unprofessional and unwarranted way to prosecute the case.”
The jury of 12 members and 10 alternates were not present, but were lining up outside the courtroom to enter. The surprise announcement also meant that the plaintiffs weren’t ready to start the appeal case.
Shearer then accused Cruz’s attorney of failing to consider all those involved, but especially the jurors of wasting their trip to court.
Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty last October to the murders of 14 Stoneman Douglas students and three employees on February 14, 2018. His trial is now ending its second month, only to determine whether he will be sentenced to death or life without parole. . For a death sentence, the jury must be unanimous.
After his lawyer’s relief, Cruz told Shearer that he agreed with the decision.
Prosecutors said they would need more than a week to prepare the appeal case. The trial is now slated to resume tentatively on September 27 and conclude in the week of October 10.
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