Florida Judge Elizabeth Scherer, known for presiding over the Parkland school shooting trial, announced Wednesday that she will resign on June 30.
Scherer, 46, did not provide a reason in her May 10 resignation letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.
Scherer’s resignation comes one month after the Florida Supreme Court removed her from overseeing post-conviction motions due to the Justices’ opinion that she could not be fair to Randy Tundidor, who was convicted of murder in the 2019 killing of his landlord in Broward County.
The state’s high court came to this ruling based on Scherer’s actions during the trial and sentencing hearing of Nikolas Cruz in the Parkland matter, finding that she showed unfair sympathy to the prosecutors in that case.
During Cruz’s trial, Scherer had multiple heated arguments with the defense team. She again clashed with the defense team during Cruz’s sentencing hearing over statements the victims’ families made about the defense team. She sided with the families and kicked a member of the defense team out of the courtroom after he complained of unfairness.
At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, Scherer, who as a judge is meant to remain neutral during trials and sentencing, came down from the bench and hugged members of the prosecution team and the victims’ families. The state Supreme Court Justices cited these interactions in their ruling against Scherer, saying it showed she could not be fair to Tundidor.
“Immediately after sentencing Cruz, Judge Scherer left the bench and, while still in her judicial robe, exchanged hugs with the victims’ families and members of the prosecution team,” the justices said in their unanimous decision.
One of the prosecutors in Tundidor’s case was also on the team that prosecuted Cruz.
It’s not clear if the Florida high court’s findings contributed to Scherer’s decision to resign.
Handling of Case
Scherer’s handling of the case was controversial, drawing praise from the parents and spouses of the victims, who appreciated the way she treated them, and drawing criticism from legal observers for her clashes with Cruz’s legal defense team. It was her first murder trial after being appointed to the bench in 2012. The case was assigned to her automatically and randomly by Broward Country’s computerized system.Before the trial, Scherer also threatened the Sun Sentinel newspaper after two reporters published a sealed Cruz educational record that they legally obtained, saying she would tell the paper what it could and couldn’t print. She never followed through on this threat, which legal experts said would have been unconstitutional.
Among her clashes with Cruz’s legal defense team was an incident in which Melisa McNeill, the lead public defender, abruptly rested their case, having only called a small number of their expected witnesses. By this point, Scherer had multiple heated arguments with McNeill. The judge responded by saying it was “the most uncalled for, unprofessional way to try a case,” although the defense has no obligation to call all of its witnesses or announce its plans in advance.
“You are insulting me on the record in front of my client,” McNeill responded angrily before Scherer told her to stop and then laid into her.
“You’ve been insulting me the entire trial,” Scherer said to McNeill angrily. “Arguing with me, storming out, coming late intentionally if you don’t like my rulings. So, quite frankly, this has been long overdue. So please be seated.”
At one point during the trial, in June 2022, the defense tried to withdraw from the case. Scherer rejected the withdrawal motion by McNeill, who then filed a motion asking Scherer to remove herself from the case, accusing her of being biased against Cruz. Scherer dismissed the request.
