美国国家公共电台 NPR--Jurors heard opening statements on the first day of the Parkland shooting trial

Jurors heard opening statements on the first day of the Parkland shooting trial

Transcript¹

The gunman has admitted to killing² 17 people and injuring 17 others in the 2018 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The jury is deciding the sentence.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Nikolas Cruz is trying to persuade a jury he doesn't deserve the death penalty. Cruz has already pleaded guilty to murdering 17 people and wounding 17 others at a school in Parkland, Fla. There are details in this story that are disturbing, and some may want to turn away and come back when it's over. It lasts around 3 minutes. Here's NPR's Greg Allen.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE³: In this, the sentencing phase of the trial, the 12-member jury has just two options - give Cruz life in prison without parole or the death penalty. To make the decision under Florida law, they'll have to consider whether aggravating⁴ outweigh⁵ mitigating⁶ factors. In his opening statement yesterday, prosecutor⁷ Mike Satz listed several potential aggravating factors. It was a mass killing. It was done in a school. And public officials, teachers, were killed. Another key factor, Satz said, is that it was premeditated and planned. Three days before he attacked the school, Cruz recorded a video. Satz read for jurors from the transcript.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MIKE SATZ: (Reading) I'm going to be the next school shooter of 2018. My goal is at least 20 people with an AR-15 and some tracer rounds.

ALLEN: Cruz used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle in carrying out the murders. The defense⁸ surprised many when attorneys said they'd delay delivering their opening statement till the prosecution⁹ wraps up its case. That may not be for weeks. That left the day to prosecutors¹⁰ and their witnesses. Satz walked jurors through Cruz's rampage through the three-story Parkland high school building. He described how Cruz entered the school and began shooting students and adults in the hallways and through the windows and locked classroom doors. Danielle Gilbert is in college now but was a junior in her AP psychology¹¹ class when she and her 30 classmates heard the gunshots and tried to hide behind their teacher's desk. She says, flatly, they were sitting ducks.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DANIELLE GILBERT: That's when he had shot into our classroom. He injured four people in my classroom, one of them being fatal.

SATZ: The person killed was 16-year-old Carmen Schentrup. The most disturbing part of the day was when prosecutors played for the jury videos Gilbert had recorded on her cellphone during the shooting. Many in the courtroom were visibly affected¹². Through it all, Cruz had his head in his hands or down on the table. Another prosecution witness, Dylan Kraemer, also in college now, was a junior in a class on the history of the Holocaust¹³. When they heard gunshots, he says, students knocked over a file cabinet in order to hide behind it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DYLAN KRAEMER: Eventually, the shooter started shooting through the window. And bullets were flying through. Ducking down, waiting 20, 30 seconds. And then it stopped. And I looked over. And two people were dead, and multiple people were shot.

ALLEN: Helena Ramsay and Nicholas Dworet, both 17 years old, were dead. Following one of the videos, defense attorneys complained that the loud volume and disturbing nature had inflamed¹⁴ the jury and asked the judge to declare a mistrial. She refused. The prosecution continues its case today. Greg Allen, NPR News, Fort Lauderdale.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

5 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

6 mitigating   

v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Are there any mitigating circumstances in this case ? 本案中是否有任何情况可以减轻被告的罪行？ 来自辞典例句
• A sentencing judge is required to consider any mitigating circumstances befor imposing the death penalty. 在处死刑之前，要求量刑法官必须考虑是否有任何减轻罪行之情节。 来自口语例句

7 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

11 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

14 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》