Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is located in the state of Florida The attorneys for the school shooting suspect asked for the judge to be removed from the case on Friday, two days after she scolded them for abruptly resting their case.
The public defender's office said in a motion that the judge had a long-standing animosity towards the lead defense lawyer.
Florida's Judicial Code of Conduct states that a judge must disqualify himself or herself if he or she has a bias against a party or a lawyer. The public's confidence in the judicial system and Cruz's fear that he won't get a fair trial are caused by the attacks on the defense counsel, according to defense attorneys.
The prosecutors said that he has been respectful.
At the beginning of Wednesday's court session, Cruz's attorneys rested after calling only 25 of the 80 witnesses they had said they would call.
There were 11 days of defense testimony, the last two of which focused on how his birth mother's heavy use of alcohol during pregnancy may have affected his brain's development and led to his murder of 17 people at a high school.
The sudden announcement by lead attorney McNeill led to a heated exchange between her and the prosecutor, who called the decision to try the case the most uncalled for, unprofessional way to try a case.
Outside the courtroom, the jury and 10 alternates lined up to enter. Prosecutors weren't ready to start their rebuttal case because of the sudden announcement.
The jurors were accused of wasting their time by Cruz's attorneys.
Cruz was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of 14 students and three staff members at the school. If he is sentenced to death or life without parole, his trial will end in two months. The jury needs to be unanimous for a death sentence to be carried out.
Cruz said he agreed with the decision after his attorneys stopped working.
The rebuttal case will take more than a week to be prepared. The trial will resume in September and end in October.
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