Parkland suspect threatens to lose public defender following inheritance of insurance

April 25, 2019, 11:43 UTC / Update April 25, 2019, 11:49 UTC

By Associated press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Public defenders of the Parkland School Massacre Defendant unexpectedly asked to withdraw from the case on Wednesday, claiming that the 20 – year – old would soon inherit close to home. half a million dollars and would no longer be eligible for free legal representation.

The Broward County Public Defender's office released an unexpected notification on Wednesday night, saying Nikolas Cruz is expected to receive more than $ 432,000 from his late mother's life insurance policy in the near future. Under state law, the public defender can only represent defendants who can not afford private lawyers.

Cruz is charged with 17 counts of first degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder as a result of the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Former student of Stoneman Douglas faces a death sentence.

Public defender Howard Finkelstein and his senior assistant, Gordon Weekes, said their office had learned of the existence of the insurance policy this week. At a hearing in court last year, their office had stated that the amount would likely be about $ 30,000, which is insufficient to hire a private attorney.

"By law, we can only represent the poor and the needy," Weekes told The Associated Press by telephone on Wednesday. "We ask to withdraw from the case because the defendant is poorer."

But Cruz might not have the money. It is likely that the families of the victims who sue Cruz will say that the money should be paid to them and that the judges will have to determine who will receive it.

Constable Elder Elizabeth Scherer, who is presiding over the criminal case, has not yet decided to hold a hearing on the motion to withdraw public defenders and may have to ask them to stay until this happens. be settled.

David Brill, a lawyer representing the father of victim Meadow Pollack in a lawsuit against Cruz and other people, said on Wednesday that he was exploring his options. Other lawyers representing families and victims did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking their comments.

Weekes said that his office could not help Cruz to hire a private criminal defense lawyer, nor advise him on the use of this money. It is also difficult to know how Cruz would have access to prison money.

Cruz stated that he would prefer that any money he would have received from his mother's estate or insurance would go to the victims and their families. Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia in November 2017, three months before the shooting, leaving behind Cruz and his younger brother, Zachary. Their father died when they were young, shortly after their adoption.

The mother had a tumultuous relationship with her sons, calling the police dozens of times over the years to tell them that they had verbally raped or damaged her property. Zachary and other family members said that Nikolas Cruz sometimes hit her mother and threatened her once with a gun, but she never reported it. She went with him to buy a gun shortly after his 18th birthday, but with a warning.

An arms shop employee told investigators after the shooting that he had received a call from Linda Cruz the day after the 2017 purchase. She asked him not to surrender her weapon after the waiting period of three days if she was not there. When he insisted on why, she hesitated, then said that he was young and that she wanted him to be safe.

Cruz's trial is expected to begin early next year. Finkelstein said it was too early to say whether this new development would delay the lawsuit, "but that is certainly not going to speed things up." His office estimated that more than one million documents had been generated in this case, which should be transferred to a new lawyer.

Cruz pleaded not guilty although Finkelstein declared that he would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. Prosecutors demand the death penalty. They refused to comment on Wednesday.