The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission has ruled that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer should be publicly reprimanded for her conduct during the penalty trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz. The commission found that Judge Scherer showed bias toward the prosecution, failed to maintain order in the courtroom, and allowed her emotions to overcome her judgement. The report will now be sent to the Florida Supreme Court, which will decide whether to accept the commission's recommendation.
Posts tagged as “Cruz’”
This article discusses the Supreme Court's ruling that John Montenegro Cruz, an Arizona death row inmate, should be resentenced due to jurors in his case being wrongly told that the only way to ensure he would never walk free was to sentence him to death. The ruling is important not only for Cruz, but also for other Arizona death row inmates whose juries received similar misinformation. The ruling sets a precedent for other cases in which jurors were given incorrect information and serves as a reminder that the Supreme Court is willing to review cases in which defendants were not given a fair trial.