Attorneys representing Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz have withdrawn plans to submit brain scan evidence and a potential expert witness as part of the defense strategy.
A Daubert hearing was scheduled this week to scrutinize those issues but it was over before it began Wednesday afternoon.
A 20-minute status hearing was held instead. Attorneys for both sides did some procedural housekeeping in anticipation of what’s to come.
An attorney representing step-brother Zachary Cruz is expected to appear before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, at 9 a.m. Thursday, to address the matter of depositions that may be introduced during the defense portion of the sentencing trial.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Zachary Cruz and his foster father live in Virginia and are not expected to appear.
The jury is scheduled to return to court Aug. 22.
The defense will begin presenting its case for a life sentence for the man who pleaded guilty in October to killing 17 and wounding 17 more in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.
Local
The state made its case for the death penalty over 12 days, resting Aug. 4. The evidence included a tour of the bullet-riddled and blood-spattered classrooms.
The jury of seven men, five women and 10 alternates will have to be unanimous in their decision for a death sentence otherwise the gunman will spend the rest of his life in prison.
