Neuro-psychologist Dr. Paul Connor was cross examined; Jurors heard more about the effects of alcohol on unborn babies in defense of the Parkland school shooter Tuesday

Parkland, Florida – In the defense of the Parkland school shooter, the jury was given additional information on Tuesday about the consequences of alcohol on unborn infants.

On Monday, neuropsychologist Dr. Paul Connor was subjected to a cross examination over his testimony.

During the course of a five-hour discussion, Connor detailed how he administered various tests to Nikolas Cruz. The results of these tests were within a “severely impaired range” of behaviors, and Cruz had an IQ that was lower than average, coming in at 83.

The following defense testimony seemed to reflect the findings of Dr. Connor about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders being the cause of the gunman’s poor memory recall, irritability, and severe temper tantrums that he displayed while growing up.

On Tuesday, a doctor by the name of Dr. Kenneth Jones testified that it is “clear that Nikolas Cruz has such difficulties.” “He most certainly does have those problems, as evidenced by Dr. Connor’s testing,” you would say.

Jones also mentioned that there is not a single treatment method for the illness.

He stated that fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not a recognized medical condition. “It’s like an all-encompassing word.”

A short stature, a small head and brain, and subtle but typical facial features such as narrow eyes, thin upper lip, and no vertical ridges between the upper lip and nose can be caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy, according to him. Consuming alcohol during pregnancy can also cause physical birth defects.

According to Jones, the presence of any two of these physical characteristics may be an indication that a person was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; however, not all children who are exposed to alcohol in utero develop the illness.

He responded with an emphatic “Not at all.”

Jones spent around 90 minutes with Cruz in 2021, but under cross examination, Jones claimed that he did not know anything about Cruz’s online studies of previous school shootings or his social media proclamations to become the next notorious school shooter.

The legal team for Cruz is arguing that their client had a wide range of neurobehavioral symptoms ever since he was born to a mother who struggled with substance abuse and alcoholism.

In October of 2017, the shooter entered a guilty plea to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018.

Over the course of 11 days, the defense team presented testimony from 25 witnesses in an effort to demonstrate that Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison due to a lifetime of mental, physical, and emotional instability.

The state is pursuing the possibility of the death penalty.