“We were expecting another 40 witnesses,” said lead prosecutor Mike Sachs, throwing up his hands.
The rebuttal from state prosecutors could happen as soon as September 27. Final discussions could take place on October 3. Prosecutors asked a jury to recommend the death penalty, while Cruz’s defense asked for life in prison without parole. To recommend the death penalty, jurors must be unanimous. If they do, the judge could choose to follow their recommendation or sentence Cruz to life in prison. Defense attorneys in building their case aimed to present the jury with mitigating factors — reasons why Cruz should not have been put to death. They described a lifetime of struggles at home and school, including being born to a woman McNeill described as a drug and alcohol abuser who worked as a prostitute while pregnant with Cruz. Cruz also had developmental and educational difficulties throughout his life that his lawyers argued were not properly addressed. “His brain is broken; he’s a broken man,” McNeil said in the defense’s opening statement. Prosecutors argued that Cruz’s decision to carry out the massacre, in which he killed 14 students and three school staff members, was not based on a whim but premeditated and calculated. They presented the jury with Cruz’s online search history in the months leading up to the shooting, along with social media comments expressing a desire to kill people. Their trial was followed by impact statements from the victims’ families, including several parents who spent days giving emotional testimony about how their perpetrator stole not only their children, but those victims’ futures — and graduations, first jobs , the marriages and grandchildren that will never be celebrated. Jurors also toured the scene of the shooting — the 1200 building of the high school — which was sealed off to preserve it for the trial. Inside, they found a tent littered with bullet holes, bloodstains, Valentine’s Day gifts and cards and other items left behind by students and teachers as they fled gunfire. CNN’s Carlos Suarez contributed to this report.