Florida Supreme Court Rebukes Parkland Post-trial Judge

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday issued a public reprimand to the judge who presided over the penalty trial of the Parkland school shooter. The court determined that her conduct was improper.

An investigation by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission found that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer gave the appearance of being partial to the prosecution while overseeing the 2018 sentencing of Nikolas Cruz after he was convicted of killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Cruz received life in prison after a jury decided not to recommend the death sentence.

The commission determined that Scherer, who retired from the bench last month, “unduly chastised” the defense team, led by public defender Melisa McNeill; wrongly accused a member of that team of threatening her child; and improperly embraced members of the prosecution after the trial concluded.

The Florida Supreme Court moved last April to remove Scherer from presiding over another case concerning post-conviction motions that involved one of the Cruz prosecutors.