A potential juror who sought to be removed from the trial of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz due to duties to her’sugar daddy,’ claims she would have lost out on $8,000 per month if she had been chosen to decide whether he should face the death penalty.
The married woman, only identified as Ms. Bristol, went viral after revealing her scandalous reason for refusing to participate in the months-long trial.
‘Well I am married and I have my sugar daddy. I see him every day,’ she told Judge Elizabeth Scherer last week in court.
She explained her predicament to a local television station on Saturday, which she approached to share her story.
‘It’s all day for six months and what’s my hardship? ‘I need my sugar daddy money,’ she told WPLG, explaining that he pays her $8,000 each month.
If she doesn’t see him, the native New Yorker claims she will lose her home.
‘If I do this case for six months, my sugar daddy won’t be able to support me,’ she explained, despite the fact that the case is only slated to last from June to September.
Judge Scherer rejected an entire pool of potential jurors on Monday after eight of them were escorted out of the courtroom in tears after the confessed school shooter walked in.
For the sentencing, which is scheduled to stretch through the summer, a total of 12 jurors and eight alternatives will be seated.
Last Monday, video from the courtroom showed Scherer, 46, inquiring whether anyone had any reservations about the demands placed on them.
‘Miss Bristol’ spoke up to warn that not only would the trial take ‘a whole complete month,’ but it would also interfere with her birthday and disrupt her love life.
First and first, let me clarify: July 2nd is my birthday, July 4th is my son’s birthday, and July 18th is my other son’s birthday.
And, once again, I need to come up with a solution. I have a sugar daddy who I see on a daily basis.’
‘I’m sorry?’ said the judge.
‘My sugar daddy,’ Bristol said.
‘I’m not sure what you’re talking about,’ the judge continued, becoming increasingly perplexed.
‘Well, I’m married and have a sugar daddy,’ she says. I see him on a daily basis.’
Judge Scherer, at a loss for words, answered, ‘OK.’ That’s all right. OK, Ma’am, we’ll get back to you. Thank you very much.’ Later, ‘Miss Bristol’ was excused.
During the case, which is slated to stretch between June and September, the ejected juror claims she would have lost $8,000 per month.
She spoke to a reporter outside of a South Florida home wearing a purple tank top and pink lipstick about the troubles she would face if she couldn’t see her’sugar daddy,’ including maybe losing her home.
Nikolas Cruz, the shooter who killed 17 people at a South Florida high school in 2018, is still being sentenced.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer dismissed a 60-person panel of potential jurors on Monday, citing emotional outbursts in the room as a factor.
According to the Sun Sentinel, seven ladies and one guy had to be removed out of the third panel of the day. After Cruz, 23, entered the courtroom, the evacuation began. All of them were eventually released.
That day, she had already reviewed two 60-person panels. After then, another panel appeared. 147 potential jurors have proceeded to the next round of questions thus far.
‘My son is a victim,’ one woman was overheard addressing the judge. He was shot when he was fifteen years old. According to video obtained by WPLG,’my spirit is so troubled.’ In order to protect the woman’s emotions from influencing the rest of the panel, the judge interrupted her.
Emotional outbursts have ruined the jury selection process.
As they were escorted out of the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, jurors were noticeably teary-eyed.
According to the Sun Sentinel, the first woman to leave was heard crying loudly as she walked away.
Cruz had unkempt hair and thick-rimmed glasses when he arrived in court. He is said to have lowered his head and turned away from the emotional panel before turning back to face them.
‘The ladies and gentlemen who have been pulled out so far are folks who are just so angry that they can’t sit here without getting emotional, and we don’t want to cause anyone distress,’ Judge Scherer said Monday after the potential jurors were removed.
‘If you absolutely cannot sit here without breaking down or getting emotional, you can raise your hand.’
Minutes afterwards, the judge excused the jury pool.
Judge Scherer and his team had already gotten through one morning 60-person panel and another afternoon 60-person panel.
WTVJ says that a second 60-person group was brought in approximately a half-hour later, and 13 people were picked.
From a pool of 629 persons, three people were picked from a following 14-person panel, bringing the total to 147.
One man who claimed to know one of the Parkland victims was among those dismissed, as were others with medical or language barriers.
A prosecutor with the Broward County State Attorney’s Office was one of the possible jurors who was struck.
Those who passed this stage will be called back in May for more questions about their feelings on the death penalty.
The trial will last until the end of the summer.
Cruz pled guilty to 17 charges of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder after carrying out a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland, and jurors will determine whether to recommend a life sentence or the death penalty for him.
At the time of the crimes, Cruz was a 19-year-old expelled student with a history of mental health and behavioral concerns, according to prosecutors.
To propose that a judge sentence Cruz to death, a jury in Florida must reach a unanimous verdict.
Cruz will be condemned to life in prison without the possibility of release if any of the 12 jurors protest.
Cruz’s brain damage from his mother’s drug and alcohol misuse during pregnancy, his long history of mental-health difficulties, and allegations that he was sexually molested and bullied are among the mitigating circumstances the defense will want the jury to examine.
Judge Scherer, a Republican from Broward County, has been involved in the case since Cruz was accused in 2019.
During the proceedings, she fought with his lawyers, calling them ‘disrespectful’ at points.
Scherer has been a judge for ten years, and the Parkland case is by far her most well-known.
