The alleged public defender of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz must stay on the case, Judge Judge

May 3, 2019, 20:37 UTC

By Associated press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. – A public defender must continue to represent the former student charged with the Florida massacre last year, a judge said Friday, saying it was unlikely Nikolas Cruz would receive a hefty legacy left by his late mother.

Constable Elder Elizabeth Scherer rejected an application by Broward County public defenders to force Cruz to hire private lawyers with the pre-tax $ 432,000 to which he was entitled to receive his mother's life annuity. Under state law, the office can only represent indigent defendants.

Scherer ruled that Cruz had not asked for money and if he did, he would probably be sued through lawsuits filed by the families of his victims. Cruz, 20, is accused of killing 17 people and injuring 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. Cruz said he wanted everything to happen. the money that he would receive from his mother, the estate of Lynda Cruz, be handed over to the families of the victims.

Scherer wrote that she "can not presume at the present time" that Cruz will receive the money, which is about $ 300,000 after taxes.

At Wednesday's hearing, Diane Cuddihy, Assistant Public Defense, asserted that even though Cruz had not received any money, he was entitled to it. That was enough, she says, to make him destitute under state law. She and her colleagues thought they could not represent him anymore. She never said that they did not want to represent him, though.

Public defender Howard Finkelstein said Friday that his office would review Scherer's decision and could appeal.

"It's not a question of whether we want to stay on the case or not, but only if the law of Florida allows our services to be rendered," he said.

The Broward Attorney's Office declined to comment on Friday. Prosecutors and families of the victims objected to the dismissal of public defenders at Wednesday's hearing, saying that Cruz would not lose all the money that he could receive, but compel him to commit private lawyers would unnecessarily delay the scheduled start of his trial early next year. They also asked Scherer to consider the time and money already spent that would be wasted if Cruz had new lawyers.

Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia in November 2017, three months before the shooting. She left a pension worth about $ 865,000 to share between Cruz and his younger brother. Their father died more than ten years ago.

A MetLife lawyer told Scherer Wednesday that the two brothers could have received the money before the shooting, but none of them has yet made any claims. Jeannine Jacobson told Scherer that Cruz could give up half, giving full to his brother.

Public defenders said Cruz would plead guilty to life imprisonment. Prosecutors want the death penalty.

Cruz spent several years in schools for children with emotional and behavioral problems, but frequented Stoneman Douglas before being expelled about a year before the attack.