Nikolas Cruz sentencing: Parkland trial delayed due to hurricane threat in Florida
The sentencing trial of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz is postponed
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The sentencing trial of Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz has been delayed once again as Hurricane Ian continues to strengthen on its path towards Florida.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer postponed the trial until Monday when the state will resume its rebuttal case.
The rebuttal began on Tuesday with witnesses testifying that Cruz’s gun magazine and boots were decorated with swastikas. Jurors were also shown his internet history, including searches for Nazi paraphernalia and child porn as well as racist comments about Black people.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Charles Scott then detailed how he disgnosed Cruz with antisocial personality disorder. Antisocial personality disorder, also known as sociopathy, is a mental disorder where ab individual consistently shows no regard for right and wrong, ignores the rights and feelings of others and shows no remorse for their actions, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Jurors were shown video clips from Dr Scott’s interviews with Cruz back in March 2022 as evidence of how he reached his diagnosis. In the clips, the mass shooter tries to claim that he placed swastikas on his items as a symbol “of peace” and describes how he skinned and burned lizards alive from the age of four.
The state is seeking to show that Cruz is a sociopath who planned his attack and has no remorse for murdering 17 victims – challenging Cruz’s defence that fetal alcohol spectrum disorders led him to carry out one of the worst mass shootings in American history.
On Valentine’s Day 2018, Cruz, then 19, travelled to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with an AR-15 and gunned down students and staff.
In October, Cruz, now 24, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
Jurors will now decide whether to sentence him to death or to life in prison.
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Cruz describes skinning lizards alive aged four
Video footage was played in court where Cruz described skinning lizards alive from the age of four.
The footage was a clip from an interview with Dr Scott in March of this year, where the psychiatrist questioned him about the first time he was cruel to animals.
Cruz told Dr Scott that the first time he could recall was hitting a lizard with a rock when he was three.
“It was just something me and my brother did,” he said.
He said that sometimes he would “skin them alive” and “set fire to” lizards.
Cruz is seen acting out “scraping” the skin off lizards.
Court takes a 15-minute recess
The court has taken an afternoon break for around 15 minutes.
Dr Scott says Cruz faked symptoms
Dr Scott returned to the stand after the brief recess, continuing to explain how he reached his diagnosis of Nikolas Cruz.
He explained how he reached his diagnosis that Cruz also has borderline personality disorder, along with antisocial personality disorder.
The psychiatrist said that he also found “robust evidence” of malingering – where an individual fakes or exaggerates their symptoms.
He said that Cruz was “reporting extreme mental health symptoms and physical symptoms are highly atypical” and “not supported by records”.
Cruz claims swastikas are ‘symbol of peace'
In a video clip from Dr Scott’s interview with Nikolas Cruz on 1 March 2022, the mass shooter tried to claim that he placed swastikas on his items as a symbol “of peace”.
The footage was played in court as an example of when the forensic psychiatrist found that Cruz was malingering.
Dr Scott was seen asking Cruz about his use of swastikas.
Cruz claimed that he only put swastikas on his items “for attention” – before then claiming he saw it as a “peace” sign.
“Anything about swastikas or when I said nasty remarks about race... it was all for attention,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the court was shown a photo of a gun magazine used in the 2018 massacre. The magazine had a swastika carved in it.
Cruz claimed that he wasn’t responsible for carving the Nazi symbol on it.
“I didn’t write that at all,” he said, claiming that a friend drew it on the magazine when they were “just chilling out”.
Cruz admitted he did carve a swastika on his military boots that he wore to carry out the attack.
“Someone told me I had a swastika on my boot. I did do that but that was just for attention,” he said.
When asked about what he understood about the Nazi symbol, Cruz said that it was originally a Native American symbol for peace before the Nazis used it.
He claimed that he mainly saw it as a symbol for “peace”.
Victims’ family members were seen smirking in disbelief and shaking their heads in the gallery in the courtroom.
Dr Scott said that he believes Cruz was “trying to manage people” and put himself in a “positive light”, saying that thinking the swastika was a symbol for peace is “inconsistent” with using an item featuring it to kill 17 people with a gun.
Psychiatrist casts doubt on impact of alcohol in womb
Dr Scott cast doubts on the defence’s claims that Cruz suffers from a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) because his biological mother drank while pregnant.
The psychiatrist said that Cruz appeared to have a healthy weight for a baby when born.
He also raised doubts about the extent that his biological mother abused alcohol when he was in the womb.
The defence’s case focused on their argument that Cruz had FASD which contributed to his actions on Valentine’s Day 2018.
Court on recess
The court has gone on recess for the day and jurors have been excused.
Trial called off for remainder of week due to Hurricane Ian
The trial has been called off for the remainder of the week as Hurricane Ian continues on its path towards Florida.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer announced on Tuesday afternoon that the court would be on recess on Wednesday and Thursday because of the incoming storm.
Jurors will return to the courthouse on Monday when Dr Scott is expected to resume his testimony.
On Tuesday morning, the trial had been expected to carry on as planned with Broward County Courthouse saying that it had no plans to close at that time.
However, Ian continued to strengthen throughout the day, with the category 3 storm already bringing impacts to Key West on Tuesday.
Nikolas Cruz acts out how he skinned lizards alive aged four in chilling video shown at Parkland trial
Chilling video footage shows Nikolas Cruz acting out how he skinned lizards alive from the age of four during an interview with a forensic psychiatrist earlier this year.
The video clip, played in Cruz’s sentencing trial on Tuesday, shows the mass murderer nonchalantly describing his first memories of torturing and killing animals to Dr Charles Scott.
Dr Charles Scott, the prosecutor’s rebuttal witness, interviewed Cruz over three full days in March 2022 as part of his extensive psychiatric evaluation of the Parkland gunman.
In one interview on 2 March, Dr Scott asked Cruz when he recalled first hurting animals.
“I broke a lizards back with a rock,” Cruz quickly replied in the video clip, adding that he believes he was around three years old at the time.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Video shows Nikolas Cruz acting out how he skinned lizards alive aged four
Interview with psychiatrist shows Cruz speaking of killing animals and claiming swastika is a sign of ‘peace’
RECAP: What happened in court on Tuesday?
The prosecution began its rebuttal case on Tuesday, following a two-week break in the trial.
The state called witnesses to testify and presented evidence seeking to show that Nikolas Cruz has an antisocial personality disorder – sociopathy – and has shown no remorse or feelings for what he has done. The day focused heavily on Cruz’ use of Nazi symbols and racist language.
The first witness to the stand was Sgt Gloria Crespo who testified that she photographed Cruz’s Smith & Wesson M&P 15 gun in the school building where Cruz left it in the aftermath of the massacre. The gun was brought into the courtroom and jurors were shown a photo of it on the scene, as well as a 30-capacity magazine which had a swastika scratched on the side.
The second witness was Broward Sheriff’s Office Detective Clint Williams who testified to seeing a swastika scratched on Cruz’s military style boots when he seized them from him on the day of the massacre. A photo was shown in court of his right boot which had a swastika carved into it.
The third witness was Detective Nicholas Masters, who testified about Cruz’s online search history and internet activity prior to the 2018 massacre.
Jurors were shown searches for Nazi paraphernalia and for nude images of “little girls” as well as racist language Cruz used online, speaking of his hatred for Black people. The gunman also wrote online about hating people and animals and claimed he killed 12 cats in other posts.
Next on the stand was Deputy Jean Marque-Puche, who worked in the Florida jail where Cruz was being held. The deputy described finding disturbing notes in Cruz’s cell including sketches where he recreated the massacre and notes saying he enjoyed causing “pain and death”. Jurors also see a photo of “666” written on the wall of his cell in his own hemorrhoids blood.
Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Charles L Scott was next on the witness stand who gave extensive testimony about his evaluation of Cruz. Dr Scott said that after spending up to 500 hours on the case and interviewing Cruz over three full days he had diagnosed him with antisocial personality disorder.
Video footage from their interviews was played in court, showing Cruz describing how he began killing animals from a young age, skinning and burning lizards alive aged four.
The psychiatrist also said that he found Cruz faked or exaggerated symptoms in his interviews, claiming that he only used swastikas “for attention” and believes they are symbols of “peace”.
The day in pictures
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz enters the courtroom on 27 September:
Broward Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Gloria Crespo testifies about the weapon used in the massacre:
Jurors shown Cruz’s gun magazine with a swastika carved into it:
Photo shown in court of Cruz’s boots with a swastika carved into one of them:
Footage form Nikolas Cruz’s March 2022 interview with forensic psychiatrist Dr Scott:
