Who is Elizabeth Scherer?
American lawyer and judge Elizabeth Scherer was born in Florida, USA, on 4 June 1976, making Gemini her zodiac sign. She’s probably known best for having presided over the trial of Nikolas Cruz, who opened fire on staff and students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 14 February 2018, killing 17 and injuring 17 other people; this remains the deadliest high school shooting in the USA, as of March 2023.
Education and early life
Elizabeth was raised alongside her brothers John J. Scherer and William R. Scherer III in Florida, by their father William R. Scherer who’s a private attorney and businessman, and who, together with his team represented former US President George W. Bush in the 2000 US presidential election voting recount, and mother Anne Scherer who’s a housewife; not a lot else has been disclosed about Elizabeth’s family, because she respects their privacy.
She grew up being focused on her studies, and was amongst the best students at her high school; Elizabeth was into several activities during her teenage years, as she played a couple of sports with her friends, excelling in soccer, was on her school’s debate team, and practiced creative writing.
She matriculated in 1994, and then enrolled at Florida State University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1998; Elizabeth continued her education at the University of Miami’s School of Law, eventually earning her Juris Doctor degree.
Elizabeth’s career
Elizabeth began working in the Broward County, Florida in 2002, and was a prosecutor under American state attorney Michael J Satz; it was in 2012 that Governor Rick Scott appointed her a judge.
Elizabeth was rather unknown outside of Broward County until she was assigned to preside over the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting case. She was both criticized and praised for how she handled the case, as she allowed the jury to walk through the school at which the shooting took place, while she didn’t allow the public defenders to share a lot of information with the jury in regards of how the federal government agencies failed to handle the shooter, Nikolas Cruz before the shooting. Several videos from the trial went viral on the internet, with most of these showing Elizabeth engaging in heated exchanges with the defense lawyers; she accused them of disrespecting the court and trying to turn it into a ‘playground’.
Watch: Judge Elizabeth Scherer blasts Dana McElroy, the attorney for the Sun Sentinel newspaper over the release of school records for Nikolas Cruz, suspected gunman in Parkland shooting. "Shame on you!" https://t.co/YGwQm4unAU pic.twitter.com/NVABH4HiPm
— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) August 15, 2018
Elizabeth was asked by the defense lawyers to step down, as they wanted another judge because they believed her to be biased against the shooter. After the trial ended on 2 November 2022 and Nikolas was convicted to spend his life behind bars without the possibility of parole, an official complaint was sent to the Chief Judge of Broward County by the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, in which they wrote that Elizabeth behaved unprofessionally, and that she didn’t treat the defense counsel with respect; they also criticized her for hugging the prosecutors after the case ended.
Most popular YouTube videos
Numerous videos which feature Elizabeth residing over the shooting case, have been uploaded onto YouTube by many users, and a number of these have been watched over a million times. We’re going to mention three of the viewed popular videos amongst these, which’ve contributed to Elizabeth’s popularity on the internet.
The #1 video “Judge Locks Up Parkland Shooter for Life, Throws Away the Key” was uploaded by Law & Crime Network on 2 November 2022, and has since been watched close to seven million times; it features Elizabeth sentencing Nikolas to life in prison.
The second most popular video “Parkland fireworks: Judge EXPLODES on Nikolas Cruz attorney for mentioning HER children” was uploaded by LiveNOW from FOX on 1 November 2022, and has been viewed more than six million times; it shows Elizabeth becoming mad at Nikolas’ defense lawyer for mentioning her children.
The #3 video “Judge Calls Out Parkland Defense for Laughing and Flipping the Bird in Court” was uploaded by Law & Crime Network on 1 November 2022, and has since been watched more than three million times; it shows Elizabeth’s reaction to defense lawyers laughing and showing their middle fingers.
Love life and husband
Elizabeth avoids speaking about her love life in public, but it’s known that she was once a married woman. She married American non-celebrity man Anthony Mercer in 2002, but they divorced in the following year; it’s believed that Elizabeth filed for divorce because Anthony had become addicted to drugs, but this remains unconfirmed.
She was then in a relationship with Charles Grady, another non-celebrity American man, and gave birth to their daughter Sophia Mercer; Elizabeth and Charles broke up in 2009.
She’s yet to speak of any other men whom she’s perhaps been with, Elizabeth’s unattached as of March 2023, was once married to Anthony Mercer, and has a daughter with former boyfriend Charles Grady.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Elizabeth’s been into horseback riding since she was 13, and entered many equestrian competitions.
She’s quite popular on Instagram, and is today followed by close to 30,000 people on the social media network, although she’s posted only 43 pictures and videos; most of these show her spending time with her friends and family members, while she’s horseback riding in others.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBtz927HxyH/
She loves to watch live National Football League (NFL) games, and has been all around the US to do so; Elizabeth’s also vacationed in several European countries, and her favorite city to visit is Madrid, Spain.
She enjoys watching movies starring her favorite actresses Julia Roberts and Anne Hathaway, and some of Elizabeth’s favorite films include “Eat Pray Love”, “Mirror Mirror” and “Duplicity”.
Elizabeth’s a philanthropist, and has donated money to several charity organizations working with children and the elderly.
Height, eyes and wealth
Elizabeth’s age is 46. Her hair and eyes are brown, she’s 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall and weighs around 135lbs (61kgs).
Elizabeth’s net worth’s been estimated at over $700,000, as of March 2023.
