FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Jury selection in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been delayed by at least a week because his lead attorney is apparently ill. Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill was absent from Monday’s hearing. It was supposed to be the beginning of the second phase of jury selection but that was postponed until at least May 9. No public explanation was given for McNeill’s absence, but Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer asked McNeill’s assistants if she was being tested. The attorneys and the judge then held a private conversation. Broward County Public Defender Gordon Weekes declined to discuss McNeill’s status, including whether she has COVID-19.
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Amy Beth Bennett/AP
Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown in court at the defense table with his defense attorneys, Gabe Ermine, left, and David Wheeler at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, before pleading guilty on all four criminal counts stemming from his attack on a Broward County jail guard in November 2018. Cruz is accused of punching Sgt. Ray Beltran, wrestling him to the ground and taking his stun gun. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
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