FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz is due back in court for a hearing designed to get the death penalty case moving forward.
Nikolas Cruz listens to a hearing in his case at the Broward Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday, April 11, 2018. The hearing was to determine if Cruz should continue to have a lawyer at taxpayer expense. Cruz is charged with killing 17 people and wounding 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Feb. 14 mass shooting. (Taimy Alvarez/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
The hearing Friday afternoon is expected to deal with several procedural issues, possibly including the setting of an initial trial date.
Cruz’s public defender also is likely to ask to waive Florida’s speedy trial rule. The rule generally requires that a felony defendant go to trial within 175 days of arrest unless it’s waived.
The 19-year-old Cruz is charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
His lawyer says Cruz would plead guilty if guaranteed a sentence of life without parole, but prosecutors seek the death penalty.
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