The mood became tense in the courtroom Monday when the defense team in the Parkland school shooting case petitioned to have Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer withdraw, according to reports.
Defense attorney Melisa McNeill requested the withdrawal after Scherer directed both sides to continue questioning potential jurors about their views on the death penalty despite one of the defense lawyers being in quarantine, but Scherer “respectfully” denied the motion, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
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“Based upon the foregoing, the Defendant requests this Court to grant the Motion for Disqualification of Judge, so another circuit court judge may be randomly assigned to preside over this case,” the motion for disqualification of the judge read.
Defense attorney Casey Secor’s presence in the courtroom was vital because Secor had primarily been hired to help the defense team navigate the jury selection process, according to McNeill, who along with Secor is one of the few members with experience in death penalty trials. Secor was reportedly out sick with COVID-19, which he caught last week.
Scherer rebuffed this request and directed the court to move ahead with questioning candidates on their views about the death penalty.
“I’m not comfortable going forward without him, Judge,” McNeill said.
“Well, you’re going to have to,” Scherer replied, later telling McNeill, “Your client has the right to have a competent lawyer. Your client does not have the right to have every lawyer — five lawyers.”
That prompted McNeill to threaten to withdraw from the case.
“Judge, at this time the defense would move to withdraw from the case of the State of Florida vs. Nikolas Cruz,” McNeill said. “Right now, if I do not comply with the court’s order and do not protect Mr. Cruz’s constitutional rights to due process, I now have to consider whether or not my liberty is going to be at jeopardy or Mr. Cruz’s liberty is going to be at jeopardy.”
Judge eventually ordering both sides to move forward with asking potential jurors about their death penalty views without Secor at which point McNeill tells the court she wants to “move to withdrawal from the case” – #SoundOn – Judge then called a recess – court to resume at 1pm pic.twitter.com/YIkpTKRh7w
— Christina Boomer Vazquez, M.S. (@CBoomerVazquez) June 6, 2022
Scherer rejected the defense team’s request, arguing it would amount to professional ethics violations, but she stopped short of threatening contempt, which McNeill risked if she did not fulfill the judge’s order to participate in jury deliberations.
Shortly after the flare-up and a brief recess, McNeill turned in the doomed motion for disqualification against Scherer.
Wanting to salvage its progress in the case, prosecutors reportedly moved to buttress the defense team’s request for a one-day delay about the death penalty. Scherer was initially apprehensive but ultimately relented.
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Scherer is reportedly aiming to have 150 potential jurors ready for the next step in the selection process, but so far, only 35 have advanced, while 95 were rejected. The process has been subject to an error before. In April, Scherer moved to restart the selection process after admitting to an error by prematurely dismissing jury candidates without giving both sides time to question them adequately.
Lingering over the trial is a motion for continuance, or moving the court date, the defense team filed last Friday, which has not yet been resolved. The defense team took note of “heightened anxiety” among members of the Broward County community following the shooting at Robb Elementary School last month that killed 19 students and two teachers, and recent shootings could hinder jury impartiality toward Nikolas Cruz, who is set to plead guilty to killing 17 people and injuring 17 others during a shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, according to the withdrawal request.
