Attorneys for Nikolas Cruz told circuit judge Elizabeth Scherer that he will plead guilty Wednesday to 17 counts of first-degree murder in the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The pleas will come with no conditions and prosecutors still plan to seek the death penalty. That will be decided by a jury, but that trial has not been scheduled.

[www.theguardian.com]

While it is refreshing to see him take responsibility, it is also very surprising when the death penalty is on the table. The last time I can recall guilty pleas in such a high profile case would be Danny Rollings guilty plea to the murder of five University of Florida students in the early 90s'

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This might poke a hole in the 'whole thing was faked' story... unless Cruz was in on it all along!

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hal
This might poke a hole in the 'whole thing was faked' story... unless Cruz was in on it all along!

Are you referring to the crisis actors? Of course Cruz was in on it all along; that’s why he pleaded guilty. That’s also why there isn’t going to be a sentencing trial anytime soon.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2021 03:26PM by Speedy.

That’s also why there isn’t going to be a sentencing trial anytime soon.


Not that there routinely is sentencing 'anytime soon' after a conviction in a capitol crime sentencing.

That said, I'm heartened to see the death sentence as an option, and would it would be appropriate to see the defendant on the table.

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Even if he gets the death penalty he'll be dead of old age before the appeals are exhausted.

Which is why even in Texas they don't much bother with it anymore given the expense of the above.

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Bill in NC
Even if he gets the death penalty he'll be dead of old age before the appeals are exhausted.

Which is why even in Texas they don't much bother with it anymore given the expense of the above.

But paying to house them for life is CHEAPER?

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Racer X

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Bill in NC
Even if he gets the death penalty he'll be dead of old age before the appeals are exhausted.

Which is why even in Texas they don't much bother with it anymore given the expense of the above.

But paying to house them for life is CHEAPER?

Yes. By a whole lot.

Typically just housing death row inmates is at least 50% more expensive because death row prisoners are usually housed in a separate facility away from other prisoners so a whole separate staff is needed just for them.

And of course the trial is a whole lot more expensive even before appeals:

[ballotpedia.org]

“Capital cases involve more lawyers, more witnesses, more experts, a longer jury selection process, more pre-trial motions, an entirely separate trial for sentencing, and countless other expenses,” summarizes Equal Justice USA, an organization that advocates the abolition of the death penalty.

A 2013 study, published by the University of Denver Criminal Law Review, examined the costs associated with the death penalty prior to the appeals stage in Colorado. The study found that most of the costs were related to the greater length of trials involving capital punishment. Examining prosecutions for aggravated murder between 2005 and 2010, the authors found that cases in which prosecutors sought the death penalty lasted an average of 148 days from pre-trial motions to sentencing. Cases in which prosecutors sought life in prison were significantly shorter, lasting on average 24 days.

Plus, putting almost anyone in state-prison supports the for-profit prison system that makes it a point to dehumanize, heinously torture and kill people without consequence even as they drain families of the incarcerated for every penny that could have gone towards improving their lots in life and elevating them out of the life that made their loved ones become criminals in the first place.

Soooo win, win?

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Racer X
But paying to house them for life is CHEAPER?

As Sarcany posted, yes it costs a lot more. Studies much older than the one he cited have shown this for decades.

call me a traditionalist
but my views are clear

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JoeH

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Racer X
But paying to house them for life is CHEAPER?

As Sarcany posted, yes it costs a lot more. Studies much older than the one he cited have shown this for decades.

But don’t those death penalty costs include all the legal/court costs incurred by innumerable appeals after the judgement and sentencing?

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DeusxMac

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JoeH

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Racer X
But paying to house them for life is CHEAPER?

As Sarcany posted, yes it costs a lot more. Studies much older than the one he cited have shown this for decades.

But don’t those death penalty costs include all the legal/court costs incurred by innumerable appeals after the judgement and sentencing?

Those costs for appeals just make it even more expensive. As the study Sarcany cited stated, most of the extra costs were incurred during the trial and sentencing phases. A large part of that comes from the average death penalty case taking an average of nearly 5 months from pre-trial to sentencing as compared to less than a month for murder cases going for life in prison.