Prosecutors in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter will begin their rebuttal case Tuesday, challenging his attorneys鈥� contention that he murdered because his , a condition they say went untreated.
Prosecutor Mike Satz鈥檚 team is expected to call experts who will testify Cruz has antisocial personality disorder 鈥� in lay terms, he鈥檚 a sociopath 鈥� and fully responsible for his at Parkland鈥檚 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
According to the National Institutes of Health, people with antisocial personality disorder commit 鈥渆xploitive, delinquent and criminal behavior with no remorse.鈥� They usually have no regard for others, don鈥檛 follow the law, can鈥檛 sustain consistent relationships or employment and use manipulation for personal gain, the NIH says.
Prosecutors will want to reemphasize Cruz 鈥渦nderstood exactly鈥� what he was doing during the massacre and could 鈥渇ormulate and carry out a plan,鈥� said David S. Weinstein, a Miami defense attorney and former prosecutor.
Robert Jarvis, a professor at Nova Southeastern University鈥檚 law school, said prosecution experts will also likely testify that even if Cruz鈥檚 brain was damaged by his birth mother鈥檚 drinking, that鈥檚 true of thousands of other Americans and they don鈥檛 commit mass murder.
鈥淚f they did, we would be having mass murders on an unprecedented scale,鈥� he said.
Cruz, who turned 24 on Saturday, to murdering 14 Stoneman Douglas students and three staff members. The will decide whether he is sentenced to death or life without parole, weighing aggravating factors presented by prosecutors against the defense鈥檚 mitigating circumstances. A juror could also vote for life out of mercy for Cruz. For the former Stoneman Douglas student to receive a death sentence, must unanimously agree.
Satz鈥檚 team told their presentation could take two weeks, but Jarvis and Weinstein question whether that鈥檚 too much for a jury that began hearing evidence in July.
Jurors may be eager to deliberate, so Satz should keep the rebuttal case focused and to the point, they said.
鈥淒on鈥檛 get greedy,鈥� Weinstein said.
Jarvis said lawyers too often think that if they just add more witnesses and evidence, that makes their case stronger. But in a trial like Cruz鈥檚 where the decision isn鈥檛 whether he鈥檚 guilty but what sentence he deserves, Jarvis believes that by rebuttal each juror knows his or her vote. Any reconsideration won鈥檛 come until deliberations.
鈥淚f you do a long rebuttal, that makes jurors think, 鈥楳aybe the defense really did score some points that I didn鈥檛 realize,鈥欌�� Jarvis said.
focusing on the seven minutes he stalked the halls of a three-story classroom building, firing 140 shots with an , and his .
He played of the shooting and showed gruesome testified about watching others die. which remains blood-stained and bullet-pocked. gave and about their loss.
Cruz鈥檚 attorneys never questioned the horror he inflicted, but focused on their belief that his birth mother鈥檚 left him with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Their experts said his bizarre, and sometimes starting at was , meaning he never got the proper treatment. That left his they said.
, calling only about 25 of the 80 witnesses they said would testify. They never brought up Cruz鈥檚 high school years or called his younger half-brother, Zachary, whom they accused of bullying.
That will limit what the prosecution can raise in rebuttal 鈥� any evidence or testimony must have some tie to what the defense presented.
Prosecutors have said they plan to show racist slurs Cruz wrote on his backpack and online and the swastikas drawn on the gun he used and the boots he wore. Although there is no contention that the attack was racially motivated, prosecutors argue the words and Nazi symbols show his lack of regard for others.
Judge Scherer rejected an attempt by Cruz鈥檚 attorneys which they argued is unnecessarily provocative. His attorneys also complained that, , Scherer did not rule they were admissible until after jury selection. That meant they couldn鈥檛 ask prospective panelists whether seeing swastikas would prejudice their verdict.
Jarvis and Weinstein said the prosecution must be careful about what rebuttal evidence they present because if they go too far they could risk an appellate court overturning a death sentence, meaning the case would have to be retried.
鈥淎s a prosecutor, there comes a point in every trial where the longer you鈥檙e up there, you鈥檙e only hurting yourself,鈥� Jarvis said. 鈥淗ave we reached that point in this trial? I think we have.鈥�
