Posted on 10/14/2022 5:23:27 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
The jury in the Parkland school shooting case shocked many observers — and outraged the victims’ families — when they issued a recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole, forgoing the death penalty for the shooter who killed 17 people and wounded 17 more. A note from one of the jurors that was submitted to the judge reveals some of the tension behind the scenes in the deliberation room, including a denial that she made up her mind before the trial to oppose a death sentence.
Nikolas Cruz was 19 years old on February 14, 2018 when he brought an AR-15 style rifle and multiple magazines onto campus to commit the deadliest shooting at a U.S. high school. [In accordance with the wishes expressed by numerous family members of the victims to not promote the shooter, that is the last time I will mention his name.]
The 17 people whose names should be remembered are, in alphabetical order, 14-year-old student Alyssa Alhadeff, 35-year-old teacher Scott Beigel, 14-year-old student Martin Duque Anguiano, 17-year-old student Nicholas Dworet, 37-year-old assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 14-year-old student Jaime Guttenberg, 49-year-old athletic director Christopher Hixon, 15-year-old student Luke Hoyer, 14-year-old student Cara Loughran, 14-year-old student Gina Montalto, 17-year-old student Joaquin Oliver, 14-year-old student Alaina Petty, 18-year-old student Meadow Pollack, 17-year-old student Helena Ramsay, 14-year-old student Alexander Schachter, 16-year-old student Carmen Schentrup, and 15-year-old student Peter Wang.
The shooter, now 24 years old, confessed and pled guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the trial only focused on the potential sentence. Under Florida law, first-degree murder has two possible penalties — the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole — and the jurors must be unanimous in order to recommend the death penalty, balancing between mitigating circumstances presented by the defense and aggravating factors presented by the prosecution.
In the end, for each count against the shooter, the jurors did find that the crime was eligible for the death penalty and the state had proven the aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt but “one or more jurors” had found that the mitigating circumstances outweighed those aggravating factors.
Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will make the final decision on sentencing at a hearing scheduled for Nov. 1, but cannot legally stray from the jury’s recommendation of life without parole.
Scherer received a note from juror Denise Cunha after the verdict was issued and filed it in the public court docket Wednesday afternoon after redacting her phone number. The note stated as follows:
Your Honor,
I would like to notify you that Melody Vanoi, one of the jurors in this case, heard jurors who voted for the death penalty stating that I had already made up my mind on voting for life before the trial started.
This allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased.
The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.
I just wanted to make you aware of this matter. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at [number redacted].
All the best to you and yours,
Denise Cunha
10-13-2022
As stated above, Florida law requires the verdict to be unanimous in order to impose the death penalty. Ryan Petty, the father of Alaina Petty, told Mediaite that one of the prosecutors told him that the poll of the jurors revealed that the vote was 11-1 for death, with one sole holdout for life. Cunha’s note indicates she was the sole holdout.
"""Scherer received a note from juror Denise Cunha after the verdict was issued and filed it in the public court docket Wednesday afternoon after redacting her phone number. The note stated as follows:
Your Honor,
I would like to notify you that Melody Vanoi, one of the jurors in this case, heard jurors who voted for the death penalty stating that I had already made up my mind on voting for life before the trial started.
This allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased.
The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.
I just wanted to make you aware of this matter. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at [number redacted].
All the best to you and yours,
Denise Cunha"""
Typical. One bleeding heart idiot
from voter records this is probably the Denise Cunha-—
https://voterrecords.com › voter › 7318253 › denise-cunha
Denise Galhardo Cunha’s Florida Voter Registration
Denise Galhardo Cunha (age 51) is listed at 19156 Nw 24th Ct Pembroke Pines, Fl 33029-5355 and is affiliated with the Democratic Party. She is a hispanic female registered to vote in Broward County, Florida.
“She” ...
Voted with her ‘heart’.
I would like to know the mitigating circumstances that prevented them from voting for death.
Also, I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased is a lie. Liberals deliberately and compulsively are biased. She went into those hearings knowing she's opposed to the death penalty under any circumstance.
I hate liberals. Liars, every one.
I bet she’s trying to get the result over-turned by an appellate court. Implying that the rest of the jury had already made up their minds before the trial started.
I think what will happen to him in prison will be worse, and sooner than the death penalty.
That can’t be true, she doesm’t have a heart. She is for the murderer.
Probably supports abortion up to the moment of birth.
Prosecutors messed up having her on the jury in the first place.
She was there to do exactly what she did. She had an agenda and no way she didn’t know her vote going in.
Demonrats are not to be trusted. They take oaths and lie because they follow the Father of Lies. All about their agenda to destroy America.
Glad her name is out there.
I smell a mistrial
Another outrage is that it took 4 years to get the verdict.
It will be interesting to see what happens to her next. Hopefully, she outed herself to set the record straight, and not for a future payday from anti-death penalty groups.
Even someone as young as Cruz is more likely to die of old age than see the execution carried out.
Hispanic.....check
Democrat...check
What anyone would expect from a Juror with these credentials?
**Typical. One bleeding heart idiot**
Exactly. She OBVIOUSLY doesn’t care in the least about all the grieving parents left with heartache beyond belief.
I knew it. Before I read your post, my thought was, “I bet that she believes in murding infants in their mother’s womb.” In my opinion, Hell cannot be hot enough for people like that.
“””Another outrage is that it took 4 years to get the verdict.”””
I agree. The mass murder happened February 14, 2018.
Covid lockdowns did not happen until March 2020.
They had plenty of time in those two years to conduct the trial and sentencing phase.
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