Jury selection underway; penalty phase in Cruz case could take 6 months

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBS12) — The penalty phase in the case of confessed killer Nikolas Cruz could take much longer than some may have anticipated.

Cruz has already confessed to the 2018 Parkland shooting spree that killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The only thing left for a jury to decide is whether he should get life in prison or the death penalty.

Jury selection started Monday and those jurors may be in for a very long process.

"Look, it is what it is. I'm not gonna rush you. I am just nervous about telling jurors six months," Judge Elizabeth Scherer said during a pre-trial hearing in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday.

Lawyers told the judge the death penalty phase could take four to six months.

"Judge, we all acknowledge that this will be an inconvenience for whoever sits on this case," a defense attorney said.

There is a lot of evidence and testimony for the jury to consider, not just from Valentine's Day, 2018.

"Anything that happens in Nikolas Cruz's life is important and relevant for the jury to hear," a defense lawyer told the judge.

The prosecution and defense differ on one key piece of evidence: Should the jury be taken to the crime scene to walk through the building where the shooting spree happened?

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"The state of Florida should be prohibited from allowing the jury to see the crime scene," a defense attorney said.

The defense said the jury can be shown photos and videos of the crime scene, and that will be sufficient for them to decide if Cruz should get life in prison or the death penalty.

But prosecutors disagree.

"This is important and these jurors deserve to see the scope and magnitude of the entirety of the crime scene because ... it cannot be captured in a photograph, it cannot be captured in a video," a prosecutor said.

Prosecutors argue the 1200 Building of the school where the massacre took place is so big, that jurors need to see it in person to understand how heinous and atrocious the crime was.

"The defendant walked in the east door, into the stairwell, walked westward, went up the stairwell on the west side ... all the while shooting down the hallway, into classrooms. That is something the jurors will see as they walk through," a prosecutor said.

The defense told the judge it would be too prejudicial to take the jury to the crime scene.

"There's no need to bring the jury to that building," a defense lawyer told the judge.

The judge did not rule on whether jurors will be taken to the crime scene for a walk-through. She said she would take that under advisement.

The jury will consist of 12 people, with eight alternates.