A defense mental health expert in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter can pinpoint when he realized the 23-year-old mass murderer still has 鈥渋rrational thoughts鈥� 鈥� the two were making small talk when Cruz began describing plans for an eventual life outside prison.
Wesley Center, a Texas counselor, said that happened last year at the Broward County jail as he fitted Cruz鈥檚 scalp with probes for a scan to map his brain. The defense at hearings this week will try to convince Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that Center and other experts should be allowed to testify at Cruz鈥檚 ongoing trial about what their tests showed, something the prosecution wants barred.
鈥淗e had some sort of epiphany while he was in (jail) that would focus his thoughts on being able to help people,鈥� transcripts show Center told prosecutors during a pretrial interview this year. 鈥淗is life鈥檚 purpose was to be helping others.鈥�
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Cruz, of course, will never be free. Since his arrest about an hour after he murdered at Parkland鈥檚 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, there has never been any doubt his remaining years would be behind bars, sentenced to death or life without parole. Surveillance video shows him mowing down his victims with and he confessed, eventually
Prosecutors made their argument for death to the and 10 alternates over three weeks, resting their case Aug. 4 after the panel where the massacre happened.
also watched ; received who witnessed others die; and heard parents, spouses and other family members about the victims and impacted They watched video of the former Stoneman Douglas student minutes after the shooting and, nine months later,
Soon, it will be Cruz鈥檚 attorneys arguing why he should be spared, hoping to convince at least one juror their mitigating factors outweigh the prosecution鈥檚 aggravating circumstances 鈥� a death sentence must be unanimous.
But first, the trial took last week off to accommodate some jurors鈥� requests to deal with personal matters. The jury will also be absent this week as the sides argue before Scherer, who will decide whether brain scans, tests and other evidence the defense wants to present starting Aug. 22 is scientifically valid or junk, as the prosecution contends.
Center鈥檚 test and its findings will be subject to contentious debate. Called a 鈥渜uantitative electroencephalogram鈥� or 鈥渜EEG,鈥� its backers say it provides useful support to such diagnoses as fetal alcohol syndrome, which Cruz鈥檚 attorneys contend created his lifelong mental and emotional problems.
EEGs have been common in medicine for a century, measuring brainwaves to help doctors diagnose epilepsy and other brain ailments. But the qEEG analysis, which has been around since the 1970s, goes a step farther 鈥� a patient鈥檚 EEG results are compared to a database of brainwaves taken from normal or 鈥渘eurotypical鈥� people. While qEEG findings cannot be used to make a diagnosis, they can support findings based on the patient鈥檚 history, examination, behavior and other tests, supporters contend.
A 鈥渜EEG can confirm what you already know, but you can鈥檛 create new knowledge,鈥� Center told prosecutors in his interview.
Dr. Charles Epstein, an Emory University neurology professor, reviewed Center鈥檚 findings for the prosecution. In a written statement to Scherer, he said EEGs using only external scalp probes like the one given Cruz are imprecise, making Center鈥檚 qEEG results worthless.
鈥淕arbage in, garbage out,鈥� he wrote.
Florida judges have given mixed rulings about allowing qEEGs since 2010, when the test helped a Miami-area man escape a death sentence for fatally stabbing his wife and severely wounding her mentally disabled 11-year-old daughter. Some judges have since allowed their admission, while others barred them. Scherer, who is overseeing her first death penalty trial, has never had a case where the defense tried to present a qEEG report.
Even if Scherer bars the test, lead defense attorney Melisa McNeill and her team still have evidence that Cruz鈥檚 brain likely suffered damage in the womb, including statements by his late birth mother that she abused alcohol and cocaine during pregnancy.
They also have reports giving circumstantial evidence of his mental illness. Cruz got kicked out of preschool for hurting other children. During his years in public school, he spent significant time at a center for students with emotional issues. He also received years of mental health treatment.
Then there are his life circumstances. Cruz鈥檚 adoptive father died in front of him when he was 5; he was bullied by his younger brother and his brother鈥檚 friends; he was allegedly abused sexually by a 鈥渢rusted peer;鈥� he cut himself and abused animals; and his adoptive mother died less than four months before the shooting.
His youth will also be an issue 鈥� he was 19 when the shooting happened.
Attorneys not involved in the case say if Scherer wants to avoid having a possible death sentence overturned on appeal, she should give the defense wide latitude on what it presents so jurors can fully assess his life and mental health.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 a close call, I think she is going to bend to the defense 鈥� and the prosecution is not going to be happy,鈥� said David S. Weinstein, a Miami criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor.
