FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The financial assets available to Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz that might allow him to hire a private lawyer will be examined at a court hearing.
FILE – In this March 14, 2018, file photo, Nikolas Cruz is led into the courtroom before being arraigned at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Cruz has been represented at taxpayer expense by the Broward County Public Defender since the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The hearing Wednesday, April 11, will look into whether the 19-year-old could instead pay for his own defense. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool, File)
Cruz has been represented at taxpayer expense by the Broward County Public Defender since the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The hearing Wednesday will look into whether the 19-year-old could instead pay for his own defense.
Officials said in March he had at least $37,000 from a variety of sources, including an insurance policy naming him as a beneficiary following his mother’s death in November. Cruz’s lawyers said then there may be more available and promised to research exactly how much.
Cruz was previously declared indigent. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
By CURT ANDERSON
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