FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The courtroom is closed. Pretrial hearings in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting case came to an anti-climactic end Wednesday.
The next time the room is opened to the public, confessed murderer Nikolas Cruz, 23, will be facing a jury that has the power to spare his life or recommend his execution.
Wednesday’s hearing before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer was expected to be a lengthy analysis of mental health evidence that the jury may or may not be allowed to hear. But a key witness wasn’t available, leaving the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers with nothing left to debate before Monday’s scheduled opening statements.
