Florida’s Supreme Court has ordered that the judge who oversaw the sentencing of the Parkland massacre gunman be removed from another death penalty murder case. The judge was found to have shown an actual bias by expressing unfair sympathy towards prosecutors.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer had overseen proceedings against Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, a case which garnered much local, national, as well as international attention. The case was streamed live on social media.
The 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland is widely regarded as the deadliest in U.S. history, in which Cruz pleaded guilty to the murder of 17 people.
The decision to remove the judge comes after Randy W. Tundidor, a prisoner under sentence of death, filed a petition seeking review of a non-final order denying his motion to disqualify the judge assigned to preside over his post-conviction proceedings.
“On November 21, 2022, Tundidor filed a motion to disqualify Judge Scherer “due to the appearance of impropriety and actual bias,” the petition reads.
Tundidor was sentenced to death for the 2019 murder of his Broward County landlord.
The Justices unanimously agreed that Scherer was in breach of neutrality when she openly showed unfair sympathy towards the victims’ families and prosecutors during Cruz’s sentencing.
“Immediately after sentencing Cruz, Judge Scherer left the bench and, while still in her judicial robe, exchanged hugs with the victims’ families and members of the prosecution team,” according to the justices.
Neutrality applies to judges during trials and sentencing.
Due to the jury’s inability to reach a unanimous decision in seeking the death penalty for Cruz, which was legally required at the time, Scherer was left with no option but to sentence Cruz to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Assistant State Attorney (ASA) Steven Klinger was one of the prosecutors in both Cruz’s and Tundidor’s case.
According to the petition, Tundidor also alleged that while off the record at a status hearing in Tundidor’s case last November, Judge Scherer and ASA Klinger commiserated over their shared disappointment at the outcome of the case.
Further, the Supreme Court said Scherer also engaged in heated exchanges with Cruz’s lawyers. She accused one of them of threatening her children, and told two members to “go sit down.”
On April 13, Florida’s state Legislature passed a bill allowing the death penalty based on eight out of 12 recommendations from jurors, as a response to the Parkland case, WPTV reported.
The bill is reportedly endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Associated Press contributed to this article