BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) As U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland considers the death penalty for the accused Tops shooting suspect, a lot of legal eyes will be watching developments near Miami as the sentencing trial of the gunman who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018, begins.
Nikolas Cruz, 23, could get a life sentence in prison or be put to death. He has already pleaded guilty to all charges.
State prosecutors in Florida are seeking the death sentence. The death penalty is a legal option in Florida and 26 other states. New York State abolished it's death penalty in 2004.
In July of 2021, Attorney General Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department continues its review of the death penalty.
"The Parkland trial will be informative," said Dennis Vacco, partner at Lippes Mathias LLP, former New York State Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for Western New York. "It will foretell the type of evidence and arguments that are made." But he said each case stands on its own.
In the case of the so-called Tops shooter, Vacco thinks it will be some time before the Department of Justice makes a determination as to whether or not the death penalty should be imposed. "The first hurdle that has to be overcome is whether or not the Attorney General is going to lift the moratorium while contemplating the evidence in this case."
Vacco thinks Parkland will be informative because of the process, the procedure and the arguments that will be made. "It bears watching," he added.
In Florida, a jury of seven men and five women will hear witness testimony in the Parkland trial and review evidence. The trial is expected to last for months.
The jury must be unanimous in deciding to impose the death penalty. If a single juror disagrees, Cruz will be sentenced to life.
Cruz, who had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman a year earlier, took an Uber to the school and began firing an AR-15-style rifle at students in hallways and classrooms. He killed 14 students, three staff members and seriously injured 17 others. He fled the scene but was arrested soon after several blocks away.
Garland has said It's going to take a long time to make a decision on whether to seek the death penalty in the Tops shooting. There's a panel of lawyers in the Justice Department in Washington, DC, that will be making a recommendation to him. The Attorney General's Office will then be meeting with members of families of the victims.
In the case of the Buffalo mass shooting, Vacco reiterated what he has said previously to WBEN. "If this case does not qualify for the federal death penalty, then take the death penalty off the books."
