FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors spent a number of hours Tuesday seeking to turn out Florida college shooter Nikolas Cruz purposely did poorly on checks administered to peer if he suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum dysfunction, the principle explanation why his lawyers say he murdered 17 other folks 4 years in the past.
However after presenting dozens of charts appearing the result of IQ checks and different examinations and lengthy explanations of averages and same old deviations that even had the pass judgement on joking she understood why some jurors have been consuming sturdy Cuban espresso, assistant prosecutor Jeff Marcus pulled his trump card.
He grew to become to the most straightforward take a look at given to Cruz: How briskly can the confessed killer faucet his dominant left index finger?
All through checks administered previous this 12 months by way of professionals his lawyers employed, Cruz averaged 22 faucets in 10 seconds. Prosecution neuropsychologist Robert Denney stated the common male rankings 51 on that take a look at and a 22 can be a rating simplest anyone with a critical mind harm that reasons bodily stiffness would tally.
Marcus then performed a mobile phone video snippet from the Feb. 14, 2018, bloodbath at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Prime College that recorded Cruz firing his AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle 20 occasions in seven seconds that incorporated a one-second pause — each and every shot required a separate cause pull. He then confirmed safety video of Cruz easily turning and firing two photographs right into a trainer who attempted to forestall him and some other of him temporarily casting off his gun’s mag and reloading a brand new one.
An individual who in reality scored so poorly at the finger tapping take a look at “would now not have the ability to pull the cause like that,” Denney stated, nor would he have the ability to hearth and reload in a single movement like he did.
Cruz, 24, pleaded responsible a 12 months in the past to the murders of 14 scholars and 3 team of workers contributors — the trial will simplest come to a decision whether or not he’s sentenced to loss of life or existence with out the potential of parole. A unanimous vote by way of the seven-man, five-woman jury is needed for Cruz to get loss of life. The rest much less and his sentence will probably be existence.
Lead prosecutor Mike Satz hopes Denney’s testimony will rebut the protection’s rivalry that heavy consuming by way of Cruz’s start mom right through being pregnant put him on a lifelong trail of strange and every now and then violent conduct that culminated within the shootings. The protection additionally attempted to turn that his adoptive mom, Lynda Cruz, was crushed after her husband died when Cruz used to be 5 and not were given him entire remedy for his psychological well being problems. She died lower than 3 months ahead of the shootings.
Denney, who does contract paintings for the federal jail device, testified Tuesday that he disagrees with the protection professionals’ rivalry that Cruz suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum dysfunction. The Missouri practitioner stated the previous Stoneman Douglas pupil’s IQ rankings of about 90 and the result of checks given him after the assault don’t make stronger that prognosis.
“Mr. Cruz’s rankings are precisely what we’d be expecting for one who does now not have any fetal alcohol issues,” Denney stated.
Denney will probably be cross-examined by way of Cruz’s lawyers on Thursday. Court docket is probably not in consultation Wednesday on account of Yom Kippur. The prosecution is predicted to complete its rebuttal case within the coming days with last arguments and deliberations scheduled for subsequent week.
