Nikolas Cruz trial stay: Parkland shooter reveals why he selected Valentine’s Day for bloodbath

Nikolas Cruz has been faking the extent of his psychological sickness and cognitive points and was “clearly taking part in video games” throughout evaluations with consultants, in keeping with a famend medical psychologist.

Dr Robert Denney took the witness stand on Tuesday morning within the sentencing trial for the 24-year-old mass assassin, the place jurors will determine whether or not to condemn him to life in jail or to loss of life for the murders of 17 folks on Valentine’s Day 2018.

Dr Denney, who’s one in every of simply seven folks on this planet with board certifications in each forensic psychology and medical neuropsychology, visited Cruz in Broward County Jail over two days in March to hold out a sequence of checks.

He testified that Cruz cheated in the course of the checks and was “grossly exaggerating” signs of psychological sickness, poor reminiscence and different well being considerations.

“He’s grossly exaggerating extreme psychological sickness,” he stated, including that “[he was] grossly exaggerating extreme psychiatric issues in addition to semantic considerations, physique considerations, cognitive considerations and reminiscence complaints”.

The Impartial’s Rachel Sharp has the total story:

The prosecution continued with its rebuttal case, with Dr Robert Denney, a medical neuropsychologist, returning to the witness stand. Dr Denney carried out neurological checks on Cruz on 9 and 10 March 2022 in Broward County Jail as a part of his analysis of the shooter.

• Dr Denney testified that start data present that Cruz was a “wholesome child” who “got here out completely regular”. “Apart from the very fact it was a C-section, it was a standard course of,” he stated of Cruz’s start – refuting the defence’s argument.
• Dr Denney testified that Cruz was faking signs and was “grossly exaggerating extreme psychological sickness” throughout his analysis of him. The professional extensively ran by way of the shooter’s take a look at scores and the way they don’t add up. “That is what you see when somebody is taking part in video games with you,” he stated. In reminiscence checks, Cruz scored round “one hundred pc for all the straightforward issues” after which had “free recall worse than extreme dementia sufferers”, he stated. “He was in a position to keep in mind the flawed phrases… so it proves that he may keep in mind these if he selected to take action,” he stated.

• Jurors had been additionally proven graphic footage from the bloodbath as additional proof that Cruz’s take a look at scores don’t seem to match his actions. One clip confirmed terrified college students hiding on the ground inside a classroom in Marjory Stoneman as a number of pictures are heard being fired in speedy succession and chilling screams ring out.

  Dr Denney stated the footage contradicted Cruz’s finger tapping take a look at scores as a result of it confirmed the “rapidity” of the gunshots being fired in fast succession.

• Primarily based on his neurological testing, Dr Denney concluded that Cruz has borderline character dysfunction and delinquent character dysfunction.

The prosecution resumed its rebuttal case on Monday, after the trial was postponed final week attributable to Hurricane Ian.

• Cruz considered finishing up a mass capturing for a few years and “studied” the Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres in preparation for his personal, he informed forensic psychiatrist Dr Charles Scott in jailhouse interviews performed in court docket. Cruz stated that he first began interested by mass shootings from the age of 13 or 14 then carried out “analysis” into a number of different mass shootings main as much as Valentine’s Day 2018. “I did my very own analysis. I seemed up on Wikipedia, I studied mass murderers and the way they did it,” he stated nonchalantly. “Their plan and what they obtained and what they used.”
• Dr Scott recognized Cruz with delinquent character dysfunction, borderline character dysfunction, a historical past of conduct dysfunction and malingering – refuting the defence’s FASD argument. He testified that Cruz deliberate the assault, his capacity to make choices and his reminiscence of the capturing confirmed that he has ample government functioning – the psychological processes that allow folks to plan and management his behaviour when he desires. “This was not a spur of the second determination. This had been deliberate out for months,” stated Dr Scott.
• Cruz informed Dr Scott that the mass capturing solely got here to an finish as a result of he “couldn’t discover” any extra victims. “I couldn’t discover anybody to kill,” he stated. Cruz claimed that he “confirmed mercy” to 2 of his victims – earlier than slaughtering them together with his assault rifle as a result of they gave him a “nasty look”. He additionally spoke matter of factly about his grotesque slayings, nonchalantly telling Dr Scott how he watched the pinnacle of 1 sufferer “blew up like a water balloon”.
• Jurors had been proven movies Cruz made within the days earlier than the bloodbath, the place he spoke of his plans. “With the facility of my AR you’ll know who I’m,” he says in a single video. “My aim is 20 folks, my location is Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida. It’s going to be an enormous occasion.”

Within the rebuttal, prosecutors are looking for to problem Nikolas Cruz’s defence that behavioural and psychological points, together with fetal alcohol spectrum issues (FASD) led him to hold out the bloodbath.

As a substitute, they’re arguing that he has delinquent character dysfunction and so he deliberate his assault and has since proven no regret for his actions.

Delinquent character dysfunction is a psychological dysfunction the place the person persistently reveals no regard for proper and flawed and ignores the rights and emotions of others, in keeping with the Mayo Clinic.

Also known as sociopathy, folks with the dysfunction typically break the legislation and have interaction in criminality, commit acts of violence, lie and abuse alcohol and medicines.

They present no guilt or regret for his or her behaviour.

Early signs embody behavioural issues reminiscent of aggression towards folks and animals, stealing, destroying property and deceitfulness. Usually, adults with the dysfunction can have begun displaying indicators and signs of the dysfunction earlier than the age of 15.

One of many key elements of the defence’s argument is that he suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum issues (FASD) attributable to his organic mom abusing alcohol and medicines whereas pregnant.

FASDs are circumstances attributable to a person being uncovered to alcohol within the womb earlier than start.

Based on the CDC, alcohol is handed from the mom’s blood to the infant through the umbilical wire.

It’s surprisingly frequent, occurring in as much as 1 in each 20 folks, in keeping with FASD United.

The results of FASD can differ however usually embody each bodily issues and behavioural and studying issues.

Indicators and signs embody: studying disabilities, small head measurement, hyperactive behaviour, poor reasoning and judgment abilities, issue at school and mental incapacity, amongst different issues.

Malingering is the place a person fakes or exaggerates a situation or sickness in an effort to obtain some kind of profit.

It’s an act, not a situation, and the feigned sickness will be psychological or bodily, in keeping with WebMD.

It was first used to explain troopers who feigned circumstances in an effort to attempt to keep away from army service within the 1900s.

Now, malingering is carried out for a lot of causes together with to keep away from authorized motion or to get consideration.

Malingering is totally different to factitious dysfunction, as a result of whereas each contain feigning an sickness – the latter is taken into account a psychological sickness the place the person doesn’t do it deliberately.

The problem with malingering is that it’s troublesome to find out.

Seventeen college students and employees members had been murdered within the mass capturing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty on Valentine’s Day 2018.

The 14 college students killed had been: Alyssa Alhadeff, Martin Duque, Nicholas Dworet, Jaime Guttenberg, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup and Peter Wang.

The three adults killed had been: Scott Beigel, Chris Hixon and Aaron Feis.

Debbi Hixon, who ought to have just lately celebrated her thirty second marriage ceremony anniversary together with her husband Chris, informed The Impartial forward of the beginning of the trial that the trial is a manner for folks to listen to the tales of every of the individuals who had been killed that day.

“Individuals say the 17 mother and father and the 17 college students [when they talk about Parkland],” she stated.

“Individuals don’t know the story of every particular person who was misplaced and, for us who misplaced them, that’s the story. And it’s irritating that it isn’t about those that had been misplaced.”

She provides: “All of the 14 lovely youngsters and three adults that had been misplaced. All of them have their very own story.”

Nikolas Cruz, the person convicted of capturing lifeless 17 folks and injuring 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018, is now going through a sentencing trial for his crimes.

Cruz – a former pupil on the establishment who was a member of its air rifle workforce and had a prolonged disciplinary file – was simply 19 when he arrived that day in an Uber bearing a legally-purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and gunned down 14 college students and three members of employees in what proved to be one of many deadliest faculty massacres in American historical past.

He was arrested later that day by police and pleaded responsible to 17 fees of first-degree homicide and 17 of tried homicide, his actions sparking a nationwide protest motion demanding tighter gun management measures and an unsavoury political debate through which survivors of the assault together with David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez had been accused of being paid “disaster actors” by conspiracy-minded members of the right-wing commentariat.

Right here’s a timeline of the bloodbath:

Nikolas Cruz has revealed that the mass capturing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty solely got here to an finish as a result of he “couldn’t discover anybody to kill” as he claimed that he “confirmed mercy” to a few of his victims.

Disturbing video footage was performed in Broward County Courtroom on Monday, displaying the 24-year-old mass assassin’s interviews with forensic psychiatrist Dr Charles Scott in March 2022.

Within the footage, Cruz is seen calmly detailing how he murdered 17 college students and employees at the highschool in addition to his detailed preparations within the lead-up to the Valentine’s Day 2018 assault.

Cruz claimed that he “confirmed mercy” to 2 of his victims – earlier than slaughtering them together with his assault rifle as a result of they gave him a “nasty look”.

The Impartial’s Rachel Sharp has the total story:

In a transfer that caught the complete courtroom off guard earlier this month, Nikolas Cruz’s defence workforce introduced it was resting its case in his sentencing trial.

The 23-year-old mass assassin’s authorized workforce beforehand stated it deliberate to name round 80 witnesses to the stand as they attempt to persuade jurors to condemn him to life in jail as an alternative of to loss of life.

However, at first of the court docket session on 14 September, Cruz’s lead legal professional Melisa McNeill all of the sudden revealed that the defence was resting – after calling solely round 25 witnesses.

Whereas the bombshell announcement immediately plunged the courtroom into chaos, it additionally meant jurors would not hear from a number of widely-anticipated witnesses.

Listed below are among the key witnesses who had been anticipated to testify: