Hello and welcome to True Crime Daily's The Sidebar taking you inside the courtrooms of

high-profile and notorious cases from across the country.

I'm your host, Joshua Ritter, I'm a criminal defense lawyer based here in Los Angeles

and previously an LA County prosecutor for nearly a decade.

We are recording this on Friday, July 22, 2022.

In this week's episode, we'll be discussing the sentencing hearing for Parkland shooter

Nicholas Cruz as jurors consider the possibility of the death penalty or life in prison without

the possibility of parole.

We will also break down two cases, set around the use of deadly force by civilians, one

involving a bodega worker, who stabbed a man, who attacked him behind the counter, and

another that saw the tragic death of a young girl after a man fired a weapon at a fleeing

robber.

Both men were ultimately not charged in the killings, and we're going to talk about if

justice was served.

Rapping up, we'll dive into the murder, trial facing a father and son for the death

of Kristen Smart, a case over 25 years in the making.

And today we are very excited and happy to be joined by Joshua Schiffer, a former public

defender and current criminal defense lawyer, with vast experience trying cases from municipal

courts all the way up and through all stages of the federal system.

Josh, welcome.

Thank you so much.

It's great to be here.

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