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Judge: Jury selection to start over in Parkland shooter sentencing

Nikolas Cruz
(Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool, File)

Two weeks of jury selection in sentencing trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz are being scrapped as a Broward judge admits to a procedural error in the capital murder case.

Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer disclosed Monday that she “should have questioned potential jurors who said they would not follow the law before she dismissed them.”

Judge Elizabeth Scherer admitted to improperly releasing 11 potential jurors earlier this month before they could be questioned by attorneys from both sides.

She initially said she would correct the error and try to get the jurors to return by April 25, but chose to restart the selection process instead.

The decision came after defense attorneys threatened to move for a mistrial if the 11 dismissed jurors did not return to the courtroom by Monday.

It’s the latest setback in a sentencing trial that has already been underway for two weeks.

On April 11, 60 people were excused after Judge Scherer found they were too overcome with emotion to serve on the jury.

As of today, the sentencing trial is set to get underway by June 21, a week later than the latest date set by Judge Scherer.

Ultimately the jury must decide whether Cruz should get death or life in prison for killing seventeen people at MSD High School Valentines Day 2018.

This is a developing story.