Almost a dozen potential jurors were dismissed from the death penalty trial of Nikolas Cruz, after a teacher wore a t-shirt with a message dedicated to the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Cruz, who was 19 at the time, killed 17 people and wounded 17 others in a school shooting at the school in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018. After pleading guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, he is currently involved in his death penalty trial in Fort Lauderdale.
However, a t-shirt caused the dismissal of almost a dozen jurors on Monday. One potential juror, who identified herself as a teacher, wore a t-shirt during the selection of jurors for the Cruz trial that was emblazoned with the slogan, “Teachers Strong #neveragain #msdstrong.” The t-shirt was in burgundy, the colours of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill first drew attention to the t-shirt, with the juror saying that the teachers “all wore them after” the shooting in 2018. “Do you know if other jurors saw you with your shirt on or were you apart from people?” McNeill asked. “I was standing with them, so I’m sure they saw me,” the juror answered.
“I am also a teacher, and I don’t think that I would be really a good fit for this case,” the juror said. She also claimed that she suffers from a supposed medical condition that allegedly prevents her from sitting down “for long periods of time.”
After she was excused for her “medical hardship,” 10 other jurors were dismissed from the Cruz case over her t-shirt. “If it’s 10 jurors that we’re going to let go, that’s better than having an issue that causes this case to get reversed over something like this,” McNeill said. “I know it is an inconvenience Judge but it is either an inconvenience now, or it is going to be an inconvenience later.”
Assistant State Attorney Michael Satz agreed with the decision to remove not only the potential juror, but the whole group who had been with her, “out of an abundance of caution.”
Unsurprisingly, Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer was not pleased with the actions of the potential juror. “She obviously did that on purpose to get out of jury duty,” Judge Scherer said. “I’m just saying, I think it was irresponsible.”
The bailiff has been instructed to watch out for any clothing issues with further jurors, and pull them aside before they enter the rest of the potential juror pool.
