Nikolas Cruz would plead guilty to avoid death penalty, lawyer says

[brinny]

Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old accused of killing 17 students and teachers in Parkland, Florida, would plead guilty if prosecutors agree not to seek the death penalty, his lawyers say

Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said guilt is not an issue in the case of Cruz, who was taken into custody shortly after Wednesday’s shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

“There is no way anyone can minimize the tragedy of what took place,” said Finkelstein. “It’s time to mourn; it’s time to figure out how to prevent future tragedies. He should spend the rest of his life in prison, but he does not deserve to die.”

A trial, he said, would be a waste of time when punishment is the only issue.
Nikolas Cruz would plead guilty to avoid death penalty, lawyer says

...I disagree entirely with Public Defender Finkelstein. Cruz deserves a trial and the death penalty if the jury unanimously believes so. What do you think?

You may get mad at me, but i have reservations about all of this. There are varying accounts about his involvement at all and if there were multiple shooters, etc.

In view of this controversy, i pray he does not get the death penalty.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Was he executed?

Not yet. He has been sentenced and is currently on death row.

 

[brinny]

Not yet. He has been sentenced and is currently on death row.

Thank you.

 

[Landon Caeli]

You may get mad at me, but i have reservations about all of this. There are varying accounts about his involvement at all and if there were multiple shooters, etc.

In view of this controversy, i pray he does not get the death penalty.

I could not get mad at you, Brinny. It could even be that you are right and I am wrong about this. I just know that the cost argument has little effect in my thinking. It seems to not make sense.

 

[brinny]

I could not get mad at you, Brinny. It could even be that you are right and I am wrong about this. I just know that the cost argument has little effect in my thinking. It seems to not make sense.

I understand. I'm going to keep praying about this. It's weighing heavy on my heart.

 

[durangodawood]

Maybe he does deserve to die. I dont know.

Deserving or not though, the death penalty shouldnt be an option either way. Its not something the state should be doing.

 

[brinny]

Are the feds going to destroy the school where this occurred?

Anybody know?

 

[Landon Caeli]

Are the feds going to destroy the school where this occurred?

Anybody know?

I believe so. At least it's in the works.

District proposes tearing down Stoneman Douglas High building where attack took place

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

It took only 2 years and 2 months for Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ro recieve his death sentence (charged on April 22, 2013, and was sentenced to death on June 25, 2015).

Maybe because he didn't fight hard, died a hero, in his mind. McVeigh the same thing. He believed in what he was doing. And was willing to die for it. This guy was a screwed up person. And might have had impulse control problem. Maybe the lawyers know more then we do. Personally, I could careless either way. It's not like Nikolas is a precious animal or plant. That I would fight for his life. I read it's more costly to put a person to death. Personally I could care less either way. It's not like I'm a tax payer in Florida.

 

[1stcenturylady]

Does anyone know what the FBI, or whatever agency, that had two warnings about the shootings, has said in the defense of their non-action.

 

[brinny]

I believe so. At least it's in the works.

District proposes tearing down Stoneman Douglas High building where attack took place

Thanks for the link. Why in the world would they tear down an entire school building?

It doesn't make sense.

 

[FireDragon76]

And his behavior continues to be bad, now lying to investigators to reduce his sentence.

...If he was hearing demons, why would he listen to them?

https://nypost.com/2018/02/16/suspe..._medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_2583473

It's possible he's not lying, inasmuch as he may indeed have a personality disorder or psychotic condition.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Thanks for the link. Why in the world would they tear down an entire school building?

It doesn't make sense.

I wouldn't want to go to a school where I knew a bunch of kids had been murdered. Would you?

 

[FireDragon76]

I wouldn't want to go to a school where I knew a bunch of kids had been murdered. Would you?

I think its terribly impractical, especially if the gun-lobby keeps up their good fight to keep the AR-15 the most popular gun in the US. We're going to run out of free space for schools.

 

[Landon Caeli]

It's possible he's not lying, inasmuch as he may indeed have a personality disorder or psychotic condition.

True. But still, he identified the voices as "demons" himself. And he carried out their commands. Why would anyone follow the directions of what they percieve to be a demon?

...It means he's okay with evil. Crazy or not... He's evil.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

I think its terribly impractical, especially if the gun-lobby keeps up their good fight to keep the AR-15 the most popular gun in the US. We're going to run out of free space for schools.

Maybe when there's no schools left people will finally start to realize just what they've traded for their guns.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

True. But still, he identified the voices as "demons" himself. And he carried out their commands. Why would anyone follow the directions of what they percieve to be a demon?

...It means he's okay with evil.

He believes demons exist? Not sure that counts as a sign of mental instability but we can certainly rule out him being an atheist.

 

[FireDragon76]

True. But still, he identified the voices as "demons" himself. And he carried out their commands. Why would anyone follow the directions of what they percieve to be a demon?

...It means he's okay with evil.

Not necessarily. People with psychosis obey command hallucinations to try to silence the voices.

I'm not saying what he did was right, but its possible he did have a psychotic break. Especially because his mother died from the flu in November. For somebody that was an orphan, that had to be very hard. I wouldn't be surprised if Cruz had reactive attachment disorder, it fits with the description of his behavior, his problems with law enforcement, etc.

The bottom line is that we need to be restricting access to assault rifles with high capacity magazines to those who have a good reason to have them.

 

[Landon Caeli]

He believes demons exist? Not sure that counts as a sign of mental instability but we can certainly rule out him being an atheist.

That's what he said. What that tells me is that he loves evil, because he listens and follows the orders of the devil himself.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

That's what he said. What that tells me is that he loves evil, because he listens and follows the orders of the devil himself.

He'd probably make a good case study in abnormal psychology.