Parkland prosecutors ask for an investigation after a juror says she was threatened
Source: CNN
CNN — Prosecutors in the Nikolas Cruz Parkland shooting case are calling for law enforcement to interview a juror who said they felt threatened by another juror during deliberations, according to a court filing obtained by CNN. The state’s motion asks Judge Elizabeth Scherer to compel law enforcement officers to interview the juror. It does not identify the juror and does not indicate which sentence the juror supported. “Juror X spoke to a support staff member and informed the support staff member that during deliberations she received what she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room,” the filing says. “The State did not call Juror X back and instead, filed a Notice to the Court.”
It is not clear whether Scherer will comply with that prosecution request. The motion is the latest indication of behind-the-scenes tension among the jury. Thursday, a juror wrote a letter to the judge calling the deliberations “tense” and denying an accusation she heard that she had made up her mind to support a life sentence before the trial began. And in an interview the jury foreman described disagreement among the jury, saying only three jurors opposed the death penalty in this case. It is not clear whether the juror who reported the perceived threat is the same juror who wrote the letter to the judge.
As the panel’s decision to recommend a lifelong prison sentence without the possibility of parole was read aloud in court Thursday, jurors stared straight ahead or gazed into their laps. The group of jurors didn’t look in the direction of visibly emotional victims’ families, many of whom hoped the shooter would receive the death penalty after he pleaded guilty to massacring 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida 2018. The jury’s decision punctuates a monthslong trial to determine whether Cruz, 24, would be sentenced to life in prison or be handed the death penalty, which would have required a unanimous decision from the jury.
The judge is expected to issue the gunman’s formal sentence on November 1 and by law is unable to deviate from the jury’s recommendation of life. The deliberations became “tense” as jurors worked toward a conclusion, the jury member wrote in the handwritten letter to Scherer. The juror, who ultimately voted against the death penalty, wrote that “some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life (in prison).”
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/14/us/parkland-nikolas-cruz-jury-verdict-friday/index.html
Full headline: Parkland prosecutors ask for an investigation after a juror says she was threatened by ‘a fellow juror’ during deliberations
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