Florida Supreme Court reprimands judge in Parkland school shooting trial

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday publicly reprimanded the state judge who oversaw the Parkland shooter’s penalty trial last year, finding she engaged in improper conduct.

Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer admitted to violating Florida’s code of judicial conduct and agreed to the public reprimand after a Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission investigation found she gave the appearance of partiality to the prosecution.

Scherer, who was randomly assigned to the case, last year sentenced Nikolas Cruz to life in prison without parole for the 2018 murder of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., after a jury opted against the death penalty

The commission found that Scherer improperly embraced prosecutors and victims after sentencing, failed to take action to stop family members from directing “vitriolic comments” at Cruz’s defense counsel and chastised Cruz’s attorneys for how they announced the conclusion of a presentation during the proceedings, court filings show.

The commission also took aim at Scherer for accusing one of Cruz’s attorneys of threatening her children after the attorney said, “Judge, I can assure you that if they were talking about your children, you would definitely notice.”

Scherer went on to tell the attorney he violated “about every rule of professional responsibility” and ordered him to sit in the back of the courtroom, away from his client, according to court filings.

Citing Scherer’s unfair sympathy to prosecutors in the Parkland shooting case, the Florida Supreme Court earlier this year removed Scherer from overseeing post-conviction proceedings for Randy Tundidor, who was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering his landlord in 2019.

Scherer resigned from the bench June 30.