Florida school shooter wants to donate inheritance to survivors

[DonViejo]

Source: Agence France-Presse



12 APR 2018

Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz wants to donate his inheritance -- which could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more -- to the bereaved families and survivors of his attack, his lawyers said Wednesday.

Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the south Florida city of Parkland on February 14 and opened fire at students and staff with an AR-15-style semi-automatic weapon.

He stands accused of 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

At a court hearing on Wednesday, Broward County Judge Elizabeth Scherer sought to determine whether Cruz -- who has so far been represented by public defenders -- is able to pay for his own defense.


Read more: https://www.afp.com/en/news/23/florida-school-shooter-wants-donate-inheritance-survivors-doc-13x9xe5

[knightmaar]

1. Trying to avoid the death penalty? Does Florida have a death penalty?

"Hey, you guys can have all my money ... unless, for some reason, I have to spend it all defending myself in a long, expensive capital trial."

[irisblue]

2. Nice stagey move though by the public defenders. Smart.

But no, pay for your own lawyers murderer. The PDs know $800K will be gone by attorneys in months.

[moriah]

4. And creates potential appeal issue because he can claim they weren't as good as he could have had.

The judge will say that both the burden on the public defender's office when someone has means for paying a dedicated attorney takes from justice for others who can't afford an attorney, and that it could create an "ineffective counsel" issue on appeal which can be prevented now by expediting the release of the inheritance to cover legal fees.

[irisblue]

7. indeed.

Those PDs currently with him are smart.

[moriah]

9. It's their job.

And given that the death penalty is at play here...

I am not a proponent of the death penalty, primarily because the "death qualification" portion of voir dire stacks a jury with people statistically more likely to convict than the average.

I doubt I'd get seated if I stated my exact views in voir dire: "It would require me to be more certain of guilt than merely the standard for conviction, and it would still be very difficult. But I also think you having to ask me that contributes to disproportionate convictions in death penalty cases, which is why I have doubts about its use. It's possible you could present me a case and defendant where I could vote for it. But I would have to be in the jury and see the evidence and be in the room to know for sure. And the fact I may not even get that opportunity because I admit reservations since it's not something a person can take back is part of why I have reservations."

[irisblue]

11. You know, neither one of us would ever make it onto a jury nt

[3catwoman3]

3. I would tell him to...

...shove it up his ass.

[exboyfil]

5. Kind of pointless

so unless the assets are judgement proof (like OJ's house and pension), he would have been wiped out by the wrongful death suits (not to mention any victim's compensation laws).

The fact is, if he wants the money to actually go to the families, he needs to plead guilty and allow the judge to determine sentencing. The court may not even allow him to do that.

Also who pays for his upkeep for the next 60 years? That's right the taxpayers. Maybe he can get a prison job to at least defer some of that cost.

The Public Defender's office should definitely charge him back their time on his case.

[csziggy]

8. One of his lawyers offered a guilty plea for life in prison

The state has decided to go for the death penalty which means much more in costs to the state and to the defendant.

I know people are angry at him, but the death penalty still means decades in prison with hundreds of thousands of dollars over those decades for appeals and hearings before he might be put to death.

As a Florida taxpayer I think as soon as the offer of a guilty plea was made, the state attorney's office should have accepted it. Get the entire process done immediately, lock him up, and forget his existence.

[exboyfil]

10. I agree with you

We don't have the death penalty in Iowa (in spite of the GOP), and I am sure that it saves us money in the long run.

[procon]

6. Blood money.

Its likely the state has already seized his assets. Since he's not poor and won't qualify for a public defender, any money he has will be used to offset his legal fees.