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Lawyers For Accused Parkland Shooter Nikolas Cruz Ask Judge To Disqualify Herself From Case

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The public defenders for confessed Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz filed a motion Monday, asking the judge to disqualify herself from the case.

Lawyers contend Cruz fears judge Elizabeth Scherer cannot be impartial because she communicated with a prosecutor without the defense being present.

<a href="https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/i/cbslocal/wp-content/uploads/sites/15909786/2019/11/motion.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read the motion to disqualify judge Scherer in its entirety

They are asking that the case be randomly assigned to another judge.

The Broward State Attorney's Office says there was no conversation between prosecutors and the judge outside of courtroom proceedings.

Cruz's attorneys also told the judge they may not be ready for the scheduled start of the trial in late January.

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