Parkland school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz should not be called 'the killer,' attorney argues

Lawyers representing the former student accused of murdered 17 classmates at a Florida high school in 2018 want a judge to prohibit prosecutors and their witnesses from referring to him as "the killer," "an animal," or in any other manner that they deem derogatory.

Assistant public defender Melisa McNeill told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that Cruz should only be referred to by his name or as "the defendant" at trial and the shooting should be called "the incident," "the tragedy," the "mass shooting" or other neutral terms.  "Can those terms be used outside the courtroom? Yes. Everyone has a First Amendment right to refer to Mr. Cruz in any manner they see fit," McNeill said. "However, the rules inside a courtroom are different."