FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Jury selection in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz has entered its second phase with the attorneys asking questions of potential jurors individually. One candidate compared it on Monday to being interviewed for “the toughest job of my life.” The attorneys asked the jurors about their views of the death penalty and knowledge of the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 14 students and three staff members dead. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder, so the 12 jurors eventually selected will only decide whether he is sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.
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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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