His trial, now ending its second month, is only to determine whether he is sentenced to death or life without parole.
on Feb. 14, 2018, at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
His attorneys are trying to show that Woodard's alcohol abuse during pregnancy put Cruz onto a lifelong path of erratic, bizarre and often violent behavior that culminated in the shootings. Jones told the jury that while there is disagreement over whether Woodard abused cocaine during her pregnancy — witnesses said she did, tests indicate she didn't — that wouldn't have made a significant difference given her alcohol abuse.“You can take all of the illicit drugs you can think of — heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine — and wrap them up in a single bag and they don't hold a candle to alcohol for its effect on a developing baby,” Jones said.
He said his examination shows Cruz falls into fetal alcohol spectrum disorder — a broad category — but does not have the more narrowly defined fetal alcohol syndrome. He said the latter has certain physical traits that pediatricians can recognize such as thin lips, narrow eyelid openings and a smooth philtrum — the ridge between the nose and mouth.
He said that lack of physical characteristics can actually be detrimental as the child won't get the proper early treatment for the damage the alcohol has done to the brain. He said adoptive mothers like Lynda Cruz might also be afraid to report to doctors what they know about a birth mother's alcohol abuse because of the stigma it can attach to their child.
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