Nikolas Cruz’s protection says his mind was ‘poisoned’ by delivery mom’s addictions in demise penalty trial

August 22, 2022

“In telling you Nik’s story, in telling you the chapters of his life, we will provide you with causes for all times,” public defender Melisa McNeill stated Monday in a Florida courtroom. “That is known as mitigation. Mitigation is any cause that you just consider that the demise penalty just isn’t an acceptable penalty on this case.”

Particularly, McNeill highlighted his delivery mom’s abuse of medication and alcohol throughout his being pregnant, saying Cruz confirmed indicators from a younger age of fetal alcohol spectrum dysfunction and delinquent character dysfunction.

“As a result of Nikolas was bombarded by all of these issues, he was poisoned within the womb. Due to that, his mind was irretrievably damaged, by way of no fault of his personal,” McNeill stated.

The feedback had been a part of the protection’s opening statements in Cruz’s demise penalty trial for the killing of 17 folks and wounding of 17 extra at a highschool in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018. It was the primary time jurors have heard from Cruz’s protection. His attorneys deferred their preliminary opening statements, didn’t cross-examine any college students or lecturers who survived the capturing and requested solely primary questions of different witnesses.

Cruz pleaded responsible in October to 17 counts of homicide and 17 counts of tried homicide, and the continuing section of his felony trial is to find out his sentence. Prosecutors are in search of the demise penalty, whereas Cruz’s protection attorneys are asking the jury for a sentence of life in jail with out the potential of parole.

Over three weeks in July and August, prosecutors argued Cruz was “chilly, calculative, manipulative and lethal” in finishing up his assault and referred to as to the stand a sequence of scholars, lecturers, law enforcement officials and victims’ members of the family to bear witness to the horrific particulars of that day. Prosecutors additionally led jurors on a visit to the untouched scene of the February 14, 2018, mass capturing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty.

If jurors suggest Cruz be sentenced to demise, they should be unanimous.

In opening statements Monday, McNeill laid out Cruz’s tough household life, together with his mom’s historical past of dependancy and the demise of his adopted dad and mom.

She referred to as Cruz a “broken and wounded” individual and stated attorneys plan to indicate the court docket disturbing issues he stated and wrote, his obsessions with weapons and devils and even his faculty capturing “manifesto.”

“His mind is damaged,” she stated. “He is a broken human being. And that is why these items occur.”

Cruz had developmental delays early in his childhood, together with his problem speaking with others. He would chew others, lash out emotionally and was impaired intellectually, McNeill stated.

The protection case could embrace testimony from Cruz’s siblings. Final week, Decide Elizabeth Scherer granted the state’s movement to compel depositions for Zachary Cruz, the gunman’s brother, and Richard Moore, who Zachary presently lives with in Virginia. Zachary Cruz and Richard Moore had been ordered by the court docket to seem September 6 for deposition to “reply every query which can be posed by the state.”

The protection has stated it won’t try and blame the crime on any third celebration or anybody besides Cruz.

Fourteen of these killed had been college students: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Martin Duque Anguiano, 14; Nicholas Dworet, 17; Jaime Guttenberg, 14; Luke Hoyer, 15; Cara Loughran, 14; Gina Montalto, 14; Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alaina Petty, 14; Meadow Pollack, 18; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alex Schachter, 14; Carmen Schentrup, 16; and Peter Wang, 14.

Geography trainer Scott Beigel, 35; wrestling coach Chris Hixon, 49; and assistant soccer coach Aaron Feis, 37, additionally had been killed, every whereas working towards hazard or attempting to assist college students to security.

CNN’s Eric Levenson and Dakin Andone contributed to this report.