FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The trial of the man who confessed to murdering 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 will begin on July 18, the judge in the case said Wednesday.
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer has been repeatedly stymied in her effort to bring the case of Nikolas Cruz to trial. But Scherer, prosecutors and defense lawyers finished up jury selection Wednesday morning, and all that’s left is a final round of pretrial hearings scheduled between now and the middle of the month.
The case, which is solely about whether the gunman deserves execution for the 17 Parkland murders, has seen no shortage of anticipated and unanticipated delays, and hours before the beginning of those hearings, lawyers on both sides warned Scherer that pretrial scheduling issues remain a challenge.
