Parkland School Shooter Status Hearing

Prosecutors said the defendant, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, opened fire there on February 14, 2018. He was charged with 17 counts of murder in the first degree, and 17 counts of attempted murder in the first degree. Cell phone video of the defendant showed him before the shooting: He promised to kill at least 20 people using an AR-15.

His defense has not attempted to deny that he committed the mass killing. Instead, they are trying to save their client from capital punishment.

“Allowing the State to proceed on its notice of intent to seek the death penalty, which does not actually notify the defense of which aggravators the state intends to prove and believes it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, will result in the defense having no opportunity to meaningfully challenge said evidence through either effective cross-examination or presentation of contrary evidence,” they wrote in one attempt to stop prosecutors from seeking death.

17 people died in the shooting: 14-year-old student Alyssa Alhadeff, 35-year-old teacher Scott Beigel, 14-year-old student Martin Duque Anguiano, 17-year-old student Nicholas Dworet, 37-year-old assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 14-year-old student Jaime Guttenberg, 49-year-old athletic director Christopher Hixon, 15-year-old student Luke Hoyer, 14-year-old student Cara Loughran, 14-year-old student Gina Montalto, 17-year-old student Joaquin Oliver, 14-year-old student Alaina Petty, 18-year-old student Meadow Pollack, 17-year-old student Helena Ramsay, 14-year-old student Alexander Schachter, 16-year-old student Carmen Schentrup, and 15-year-old student Peter Wang.

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