Probation, and no guns, for Zachary Cruz in Stoneman Douglas trespassing case
March 30, 2018 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Zachary Cruz, brother of the teenager who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month, will go free Thursday as part of a plea deal reached in his trespassing case.
Cruz, 18, pleaded no contest in exchange for a 6-month probation term saddled with conditions that include staying off drugs or alcohol, staying at least a mile away from the Parkland high school he once attended, and staying away from firearms.
“Zachary Cruz is not someone anyone needs to fear,” said his lawyer, Joseph Kimok. “He’s someone who needs our compassion.”
Cruz was arrested on March 19 at the school’s campus. A police report said he had been warned to stay away from the school. His lawyer disputed that Thursday.
“That part of it simply wasn’t true,” Kimok said. “That school was always a place where he felt safe and welcome.”
Cruz admitted to deputies he had been to Stoneman Douglas three times since his brother, Nikolas, went on his deadly shooting spree.
Nikolas Cruz is facing the death penalty if he’s convicted, but Zachary Cruz faced a maximum of 60 days in jail and a fine of $500.
Kimok read a statement expressing regret on behalf of his client.
“Zachary Cruz would like to apologize to anyone who felt scared or threatened by his presence at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,” Kimok said. Cruz watched his mother die last November and was astonished when his brother went on the shooting spree, he said.
“He didn’t turn to drugs or alcohol or violence,” Kimok said. “He turned to his skateboard. He turned to Stoneman Douglas… He just wanted to make sense of this”
Cruz entered the courtroom at 8:45 a.m., dressed in a tan jumpsuit with his arms and legs shackled.
Prosecutor Sarahnell Murphy listed the terms of the plea agreement, which also included mental health counseling, GPS monitor tracking and a ban on setting foot on any school campus unless he is enrolled there.
Broward County Judge Melinda Brown had scheduled Thursday’s hearing to listen to arguments from both sides on the $500,000 bond originally imposed on Cruz. The debate over the bond amount was rendered irrelevant by the plea deal, but Kimok still called it “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
“A judge set a half-million dollar bond in a trespassing case,” he said. “When a judge sets a bond that is so high that you have to plead guilty to get out of jail,” with as much media attention as the Cruz case received, “they can do it to anyone,” Kimok said. “And that should scare everyone.
Prosecutors formally charged Cruz on Wednesday with one count of trespassing on public school grounds. Murphy said prosecutors considered his mental health records and a risk assessment evaluation conducted at the main jail on Sunday to help determine whether he poses a threat to himself or to others if released.
Zachary Cruz was hospitalized for mental health evaluation under the state’s Baker Act once after the Feb. 14 shooting and again after his arrest.
He told deputies before his arrest that he wanted to reflect on what his brother had done.
rolmeda@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4457, Twitter @SSCourts and @rolmeda
