Given human nature, it is understandable that some of those who lost loved ones in the Parkland massacre would want to vent their anger at the killer’s public defenders for saving him from death row.
But it’s neither understandable nor acceptable that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer allowed them to do it during a recent two-day sentencing hearing. Worse, she was abusive herself, berating and humiliating Public Defender Gordon Weekes and his chief assistant David Wheeler for trying to defend their people from attacks in the courtroom.
The judge snapped when Wheeler asked how she would feel if similar veiled threats were being made against her children. She ordered Weekes to leave the defense table as if he were a schoolchild being sent to the principal’s office.
Scherer, whose impartiality had been questioned before and throughout the sentencing trial, erased any remaining doubt by publicly hugging two of the prosecutors afterward. That they had once been colleagues doesn’t matter; she’s a judge now. That comes with immutable responsibilities embodied in the Code of Judicial Conduct. Those require her to suppress her personal emotions and show no favor to either side.
It was also her duty to control the emotions in her courtroom.
Nikolas Cruz had it coming. His lawyers didn’t.
Once assigned, the Office of Public Defender had a legal, moral and professional responsibility to defend Cruz in every ethical way. That is what they did. That is what all good lawyers do. Lawyers in private practice can be selective about their clients. Public defenders don’t have that luxury.
The horrifying details of the mass murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School made the defense of Cruz painful and highly stressful. The public defender’s office provided psychological counseling for staff members.
Now, their recovery will be burdened not only by the abuse heaped on them in court but also by what’s coming over the phone and the internet.
“Please put a gun to your head & release the trigger,” said an email. Another said, “Kill yourself, thank you.”
Some but not all of the vitriol targeted Tamara Curtis, an assistant public defender who was seen making what appeared to be an obscene gesture at a camera crew she didn’t want showing the defense table. That’s properly the subject of a current Florida Bar investigation. There are rules of decorum for lawyers. Weekes says there will be an in-house investigation as well.
Scherer’s role warrants a parallel inquiry by the Judicial Qualifications Commission. The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers should consider filing a formal complaint with the JQC if it doesn’t get a satisfactory response from the one it has sent to Chief Circuit Judge Jack Tuter.
Though it may not be apparent to all of them at this moment, the jury gave finality to the Parkland families. Public defenders deserve some credit for that. They also deserve an apology from Scherer.
