Jury selection for the death penalty trial of the man who confessed to murdering 17 people in a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, had to start from scratch because of an error made by the judge.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer made the decision to restart the jury selection process because she improperly dismissed 11 jurors. Scherer let the potential jurors go two weeks ago after telling her they would not properly follow the law.
Despite their statements, the jurors were supposed to report back to court on Monday (April 25), so they could be questioned by lawyers from both the prosecution and defense. Scherer blamed the mistake on a "miscommunication."
While the defense supported waiting another week to question the potential jurors, the prosecution said the delay was unacceptable.
"Neither side has been able to talk to these jurors. In a capital case, the questioning of jurors is important. It is of the utmost importance," prosecutor Carolyn McCann said. "This is not a harmless error."
McCann also noted there have been numerous issues with the process.
"There's too many issues," she added. "At this point, it's better to just start fresh."
Scherer's decision forces the court to scrap two weeks of work trying to find a panel of 12 jurors who will decide if Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life behind bars. Over 1,200 people were screened, and 250 were scheduled to come back to court for additional questioning.