FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A jury for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s penalty trial was finally sworn in Wednesday, completing a nearly three-month selection process that ended with two last-minute changes to the panel made by his attorneys.
The defense wound up using all 10 of its peremptory challenges, eliminating candidates for any reason other than race or gender, while the prosecution used four. On Wednesday, the defense used its final strikes to eliminate a retired insurance company executive and a banking executive who had been tentatively on the panel when court adjourned Tuesday.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer shot down the defense’s attempt to use a peremptory to eliminate a Black man who said during jury selection he did not believe in the existence of “white privilege” - the argument that white people get certain societal advantages because of their race.