Parkland gunman jurors to visit still-bloodstained school building as death penalty decision looms
CBSN
Jurors in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are expected to walk through the still blood-spattered rooms of Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday in a visit to the three-story building where he murdered 14 students and three staff members four years ago.
The seven-man, five-woman jury and 10 alternates will be bused under heavy security the 30 miles from the Broward County Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale to the suburban school. Law enforcement plans to seal off the area around the school and aircraft may be barred from flying overhead to prevent protesters from interrupting the proceedings and to protect the jurors' safety.
The panelists and their law enforcement escorts will be accompanied into the building by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, prosecutors and Cruz's attorneys. Cruz will not be present, according to one of his attorneys. Prosecutors, who are winding up their case, are hoping the visit will help prove that the former Stoneman Douglas student's actions were cold, calculated, heinous and cruel; created a great risk of death to many people and "interfered with a government function" - all aggravating factors under Florida's capital punishment law.
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