(CNN) Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz's death penalty trial is set to begin in January 2020, according to a court order issued Thursday by Florida Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer. Cruz did not make a plea, and instead Judge Scherer entered a not guilty plea on Cruz's behalf. The Broward state attorney is seeking the death penalty. The question at trial is not about his guilt -- Cruz has confessed to the crime -- but about whether he receives the death penalty. His defense team has offered a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole, but only if prosecutors take the death penalty off the table.

Source: CNN October 17, 2019 19:07 UTC