Florida school shooting suspect due back in court

January 18, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. | Updated January 18, 2019 at 1:24 a.m.

by Associated Press

Parkland school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Broward Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. Cruz returned court this week for hearings on the Valentine's Day 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and on accusations he assaulted a corrections officer. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Parkland school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Broward Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. Cruz returned court this week for hearings on the Valentine's Day 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and on accusations he assaulted a corrections officer. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz is due back in court for more motions from defense lawyers.

Cruz's lawyers want Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer on Friday to hold the Broward Sheriff's Office in contempt of court for improperly providing the suspect's medical records to a state commission investigating the shooting.

They say only certain authorized investigators and prosecutors should get access to such records in a criminal case, and the commission is not included.

The 20-year-old Cruz faces the death penalty if convicted in the Valentine's Day shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. His lawyers have offered a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison, but prosecutors reject that.

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