The visit is intended to help jurors analyze the evidence presented in the trial so far, Judge Elizabeth Scherer explained.
The judge instructed jurors on Wednesday to “refrain from touching, manipulating or moving anything.” He also told them to explore the scene on their own and at their own pace, moving as a group from floor to floor.
“Nothing will be explained to you or pointed out to you,” the judge’s instructions said. Jurors have also been told to refrain from speaking to anyone until the screening is over.
Jurors will not be allowed to have a smart phone, smart watch or any type of camera while viewing the jury. In court, lawyers encouraged the judge to ask jurors to wear closed-toe shoes because they could encounter glass on the floor.
The current phase of the trial is to determine gunman Nikolas Cruz’s sentence: Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, while Cruz’s defense attorneys are asking jurors to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. To recommend the death penalty, jurors must be unanimous. If they do, the judge could choose to follow the recommendation or sentence Cruz to life in prison.
Cruz is not expected to be found at the crime scene.
After the visit, some impact statements are expected in court, the judge said.
Wednesday was the third day of victim impact testimony in the trial of Cruz, who pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the shooting.
Much of the testimony in the Broward County court — particularly by the parents of the 14 students who were killed — has focused on all the things the victims and their families will never do and the irreparable damage to their daily lives.
“Our family is broken. There’s this constant void,” said Max Schachter, the father of 14-year-old Alex, who loved chocolate chip cookies, the trombone and video games.
“I feel like I can’t really be happy if I smile,” Schachter said Wednesday. “I know behind that smile is the sudden realization that part of me will always be sad and miserable because Alex isn’t here.”
The loss of her daughter Meadow Pollack, 18, “destroyed” Shara Kaplan’s life, she told a jury Tuesday, “and my ability to always live a productive existence.” To articulate how her daughter’s death affected her, she said, she would have to rip out her heart and show them how it had shattered into a million pieces.
And the Hoyer family will never be the same. “We were a family of five always trying to fit into a world built for even numbers,” said Tom Hoyer, whose 15-year-old son Luke — the youngest of three — was killed. “Two-, four-, six-seater tables in a restaurant. Two-, four-, six-packs of tickets to events. Things like that.”
But the Hoyers are no longer a family of five, and “the world will never feel right again, now that we’re a family of four,” Hoyer said.
“When Luke died something was missing inside of me,” she said. “And I will never, ever get over that feeling.”
To reach their sentencing decision, jurors will hear prosecutors and defense attorneys argue aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances — why Cruz should or should not be executed.
Victim impact statements add another layer, giving victims’ families and friends their own day in court, although the judge told jurors the statements are not meant to be weighed as aggravating factors.
CNN’s Sara Weisfeldt and Leyla Santiago contributed to this report.
