It was her first murder case and it was her last murder case. Her only murder case that she presided over.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who after being denied the chance to show the world how tough she was and sentence Nicholas Cruz to death, and then infamously hugged the prosecutors after the jury's life recommendation, has RESIGNED.
She was recently ordered by the Florida Supreme Court to recuse herself from a different case being handled by the same prosecutor she hugged. We covered that debacle here in our alliterative "Scherer Schmered" post THE BLOG: SCHERER SCHMEARED (justicebuilding.blogspot.com)
We are engaging in rank speculation here, but what the hey.
The Cruz case fell in Scherer's division. Suddenly a new judge, who had never done a murder case was being assigned the biggest case in Broweird. She was going to preside over the largest death penalty prosecution in the nation, and she had the opportunity to lecture the defendant ,nee the world, about why the death penalty was appropriate. Visions of the 4th DCA, the Florida Supreme Court and perhaps the 11th circuit with an appointment from President DeSantis danced in her mind. All that had to happen was the system working as planned and the jury recommending death.
Be careful what you ask for in life because you may get it.
Now all that is left is a crumpled robe on the floor, her dreams shattered by the operation of the jury system, her bias exposed, the hug heard round the world.
I bet she was one inch short of getting blasted out of her courtroom by the JQC for her behavior in the Cruz case and quit instead.
ReplyDeleteJQC would have done nothing
DeleteThe Cruz jurors who voted to spare his life made a huge mistake. Death was the only verdict a sane person could reach with those facts. The judge was an armature and has no place on the bench.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance. Totally unprofessional. How could any defendant feel like they could get a fair shake after she comes down and hugs prosecution? Begs the question about relationships with ASA's when not in public. Every case she's ever heard is now questionable.
ReplyDeleteBig mistake hugging prosecutors only and not defense attorneys as well. And to do this publicly. What the hell was she thinking??
ReplyDeleteI see a gig on Fox in her future.
ReplyDeleteAfter a disastrous performance in the spotlight, her resignation is unexpectedly elegant. Probably the high point of her judicial career.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn’t her first murder trial. I tried a murder case in front of her in 2015. Do they check these things?
ReplyDeleteGood riddance
ReplyDeleteThe hug is not what caused her to be forced to resign. It was the way she treated the PD's and the elected PD that did her in. Telling the elected PD, a lawyer to sit in the back row and shut up is not "judicial temperament."
ReplyDeleteRumpole, I have never seen you exercise your misogyny muscles like that. Wow.
ReplyDelete@154 - where exactly is the misogyny? Is using the word "she" in a negative post all it takes these days?
ReplyDeleteIt was obvious she wanted to sentence him to death and that she considered the trial a mere formality. Her obvious bias didn't help the state. If anything it gave the impression that the little dipshit was being railroaded. It probably drew some sympathy from jury members when there should have been none. A better judge would have helped the State a lot.
ReplyDeleteShe also refused to hold Zoom hearings for 10-second nonsense hearings. Good riddance!
ReplyDeleteShe’s really hot, though.
ReplyDelete