Lawyers for Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who shot and killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, argued in a hearing that their client should not be called a “killer” during his trial.
Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder and faces a possible death sentence, but his lawyers argued that terms like “killer,” “the massacre,” “the schoolhouse slaughter,” “an execution” or other terms are “inflammatory” and should be avoided when discussing the specifics of shooting in Parkland.
Cruz’s public defender, Melisa McNeill, argued this point during a Zoom hearing on Wednesday, explaining that “we are not making effort, as the state has alleged, to minimize or purify what happened.”
McNeill admitted that “the evidence speaks for itself, and it’s not necessary to invite error into the record with these prejudicial references,” she explained.
The prosecution rejected McNeill’s argument, calling it an attempt to limit the facts.
“Especially when they adequately describe the defendant and what he did, what else do you call an event where somebody goes into a school and kills 17 innocent people?” Prosecutor Nicole Chiappone asked the court. “That is a massacre.”
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