The deliberation room where 12 jurors met to decide the fate of Nikolas Cruz may have been a crime scene itself, and prosecutors came forward Thursday night asking for an investigation.
After the verdict was read that handed down a life sentence instead of the death sentence to the Parkland mass shooter, a motion was filed after a woman told the State Prosecutor’s Office that she was threatened.
Juror Denise Cunha “informed the support staff member that during deliberations she received what she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room.”
Cunha wrote in a letter to Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer Thursday that she angered fellow panelists when she made it clear she would not vote to execute Cruz. “The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote life,” she wrote.
Threatening a juror under Florida law is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday afternoon to discuss the motion.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
