CRIME/GUNS/LEGAL: “A judge has refused to step aside from the case of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz as requested by his lawyers.
Court records show that Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer denied the request Monday [2-26-18].
Cruz’s lawyers claimed Scherer has made rulings and comments that indicate favoritism for prosecutors. They say in court papers that Cruz can’t get a fair trial, but Scherer disagreed…
Meanwhile, a Tuesday morning hearing in the criminal case against the suspect accused in the Florida high school shooting was canceled after lawyers reached an agreement for prosecutors to get hair samples, fingerprints, DNA and photographs of Cruz. Cruz, who has been charged with 17 counts of murder, was not expected to appear in court because he waived his right to attend the hearing. He is being held without bail at the Broward County Jail.
As the case moves through the courts, it has fueled a debate over gun control in the halls of the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, hours from where the shooting took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.”
-Kelli Kennedy, Brendan Farrington, and Curt Andreson, “Judge refuses to step aside in school shooting case,” ABC News, Feb. 27, 2018 09:55am