Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Katherine Welles
The Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s punishment trial was presided over by Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who received a public rebuke from the Florida Supreme Court on Monday for her perceived prejudice in favor of the prosecution.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission’s recommendation was approved by the state’s top court in a majority ruling, which ruled she had “engaged in inappropriate behavior.”
The commission censured Scherer for leaving the bench shortly after Cruz, 24, was given a life sentence and hugging many prosecutors.
Scherer testified before the state commission, which is entrusted with looking into claims of judicial misconduct, that she had also given Cruz’s attorneys hugs.
The 15-member group stated in its June 2 report that “Judge Scherer occasionally permitted her emotions to cloud her judgment throughout this unusual and protracted case.”
Cruz admitted to killing 17 people on February 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in one of the deadliest mass shootings at a school in American history.
Scherer and the defense team frequently exchanged barbs on camera throughout the six-month penalty trial to decide whether Cruz would get the death penalty.
Scherer was forced to give the mass murderer a life sentence in prison in November because the jury’s decision to recommend death wasn’t unanimous.
The committee also determined that Scherer had falsely accused one of Cruz’s attorneys of “threaten[ing] her children” and “unduly chastised” members of the defense team.
“[Scherer] admits that her conduct fell below what is reasonably expected of a trial judge and had the potential to damage the perception of the judiciary and our system of justice in ways that cannot be easily cured,” the commission wrote.
Cruz’s case was allocated at random to the 46-year-old former Broward County circuit judge, who retired last month. It was her first case involving the death penalty.
Scherer was removed from a death row inmate’s case in April at the request of his defense attorney due to her actions during the Cruz trial.
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
