Expert in Nikolas Cruz trial says he has 'never seen' pregnant woman drink so much alcohol
The sentencing trial of Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz has been delayed once again as Hurricane Ian continues to strengthen on its path towards Florida.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer postponed the trial until Monday when the state will resume its rebuttal case.
The rebuttal began on Tuesday with witnesses testifying that Cruz’s gun magazine and boots were decorated with swastikas. Jurors were also shown his internet history, including searches for Nazi paraphernalia and child porn as well as racist comments about Black people.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Charles Scott then detailed how he disgnosed Cruz with antisocial personality disorder .
The state is seeking to show that Cruz is a sociopath who planned his attack and has no remorse for murdering 17 victims – challenging Cruz’s defence that fetal alcohol spectrum disorders led him to carry out one of the worst mass shootings in American history.
On Valentine’s Day 2018, Cruz, then 19, travelled to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with an AR-15 and gunned down students and staff.
In October, Cruz, now 24, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
Jurors will now decide whether to sentence him to death or to life in prison.
Trial called off for remainder of week due to Hurricane Ian
The trial has been called off for the remainder of the week as Hurricane Ian continues on its path towards Florida.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer announced on Tuesday afternoon that the court would be on recess on Wednesday and Thursday because of the incoming storm.
Jurors will return to the courthouse on Monday when Dr Scott is expected to resume his testimony.
On Tuesday morning, the trial had been expected to carry on as planned with Broward County Courthouse saying that it had no plans to close at that time.
However, Ian continued to strengthen throughout the day, with the category 3 storm already bringing impacts to Key West on Tuesday.
Court on recess
The court has gone on recess for the day and jurors have been excused.
Psychiatrist casts doubt on impact of alcohol in womb
Dr Scott cast doubts on the defence’s claims that Cruz suffers from a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) because his biological mother drank while pregnant.
The psychiatrist said that Cruz appeared to have a healthy weight for a baby when born.
He also raised doubts about the extent that his biological mother abused alcohol when he was in the womb.
The defence’s case focused on their argument that Cruz had FASD which contributed to his actions on Valentine’s Day 2018.
Cruz claims swastikas are ‘symbol of peace'
In a video clip from Dr Scott’s interview with Nikolas Cruz on 1 March 2022, the mass shooter tried to claim that he placed swastikas on his items as a symbol “of peace”.
The footage was played in court as an example of when the forensic psychiatrist found that Cruz was malingering.
Dr Scott was seen asking Cruz about his use of swastikas.
Cruz claimed that he only put swastikas on his items “for attention” – before then claiming he saw it as a “peace” sign.
“Anything about swastikas or when I said nasty remarks about race... it was all for attention,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the court was shown a photo of a gun magazine used in the 2018 massacre. The magazine had a swastika carved in it.
Cruz claimed that he wasn’t responsible for carving the Nazi symbol on it.
“I didn’t write that at all,” he said, claiming that a friend drew it on the magazine when they were “just chilling out”.
Cruz admitted he did carve a swastika on his military boots that he wore to carry out the attack.
“Someone told me I had a swastika on my boot. I did do that but that was just for attention,” he said.
When asked about what he understood about the Nazi symbol, Cruz said that it was originally a Native American symbol for peace before the Nazis used it.
He claimed that he mainly saw it as a symbol for “peace”.
Victims’ family members were seen smirking in disbelief and shaking their heads in the gallery in the courtroom.
Dr Scott said that he believes Cruz was “trying to manage people” and put himself in a “positive light”, saying that thinking the swastika was a symbol for peace is “inconsistent” with using an item featuring it to kill 17 people with a gun.
Dr Scott says Cruz faked symptoms
Dr Scott returned to the stand after the brief recess, continuing to explain how he reached his diagnosis of Nikolas Cruz.
He explained how he reached his diagnosis that Cruz also has borderline personality disorder, along with antisocial personality disorder.
The psychiatrist said that he also found “robust evidence” of malingering – where an individual fakes or exaggerates their symptoms.
He said that Cruz was “reporting extreme mental health symptoms and physical symptoms are highly atypical” and “not supported by records”.
Court takes a 15-minute recess
The court has taken an afternoon break for around 15 minutes.
Cruz describes skinning lizards alive aged four
Video footage was played in court where Cruz described skinning lizards alive from the age of four.
The footage was a clip from an interview with Dr Scott in March of this year, where the psychiatrist questioned him about the first time he was cruel to animals.
Cruz told Dr Scott that the first time he could recall was hitting a lizard with a rock when he was three.
“It was just something me and my brother did,” he said.
He said that sometimes he would “skin them alive” and “set fire to” lizards.
Cruz is seen acting out “scraping” the skin off lizards.
Dr Scott diagnosed Cruz with antisocial personality disorder
From his evaluation of Cruz, Dr Scott said he diagnosed the mass shooter with antisocial personality disorder.
The forensic psychiatrist said that he came to three diagnostic conclusions: antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder and malingering.
An individual is diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder if they meet three or more criteria out of seven. Cruz meets six of the seven, he said.
The first criteria is “failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviours as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest”.
One example Dr Scott gave was that Cruz murdered 17 people and attempted to murder 17 people in the Valentine’s Day massacre.
Jurors also heard an audio clip from his interview where Cruz admitted that he broke into cars looking for weapons when he was around 16.
The second criteria is deceitfulness, such as lying or conning others.
Dr Scott said education records show he meets this criteria, with multiple teachers describing him as “deceitful”.
On the day of the massacre, he also “conned” the Uber driver that he was carrying a large musical instrument as he carried the AR-15 to the school.
The third criteria is where the individual is “impulsive or has difficulty planning ahead,” he said – pointing to examples of impulsiveness noted in his education records.
Criteria four is irritability and aggressiveness that leads to physical assault. Dr Scott detailed multiple instances of violence including where he attacked his adoptive mother Lynda Cruz.
Before Lynda’s death, he hit her on the face causing her to need a dental checkup appointment, he testified, referring to records.
The fifth criteria is a reckless disregard for yourself or others. An example of this was Cruz saying it was “thrilling” to shoot his gun in his backyard because he knew he was breaking the law.
The sixth criteria is consistent irresponsibility. Dr Scott said he does not think Cruz met this criteria.
Dr Scott said that an individual with antisocial personality disorder must also show “conduct disorder” before the age of 15. To meet the diagnosis for conduct disorder the individual must only show one criteria.
Forensic psychiatrist says he has spent 500 hours on case
Dr Scott told the court that he has spent between 400 and 500 hours on the case since he was first contacted to lend his expertise on 11 November 2021.
The forensic psychiatrist said that he has evaluated and assessed thousands of records and also spent three days interviewing Nikolas Cruz.
Dr Scott said the records included: records relating to the day itself such as depositions, witness statements and court testimony; records about his adoption and delivery; education records; employment records; Cruz’s social media, cellphone videos and text messages; and footage of Cruz carrying out his attack and his actions in the aftermath.
He then carried out an in-person evaluation of Cruz over three full days 1, 2 and 3 March 2022.
The evaluation, which was all recorded and took place in the presence of Cruz’s lawyer, involved a comprehensive interview about his life and the day he carried out the massacre.
Psychiatrist next to testify
Psychiatrist Dr Charles L Scott is now on the witness stand.
He detailed his extensive career and experience, including his research into the connection between mental illness and violence.
He also has a history of assessing individuals who have claimed insanity or may have been faking symptoms such as hearing voices.