FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A heated argument erupted in court Thursday between the most seriously injured survivor of the 2018 Parkland school massacre and some of the families of the 17 people killed over a dispute over conflicting lawsuit settlements each side recently reached with the shooter, with opposing attorneys accusing the other of lying.
The immediate conflict is over a June settlement between survivor Anthony Borges and his parents with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz that would give Borges rights to Cruz’s name and likeness, approval of any interviews he might do and a $400,000 annuity left to Cruz by his deceased mother.
Attorneys for the families of slain students Meadow Pollack, Luke Hoyer and Alaina Petty, as well as survivor Maddy Wilford, quickly responded by reaching their own $190 million settlement with Cruz.
But as Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips learned Wednesday, the mutual animosity began during negotiations over a $25 million settlement reached in 2021 with Broward County Schools, when the families of those killed insisted that Borges receive $1 less than they would receive as recognition that they suffered the greater loss.
Borges’ attorney, Alex Arreaza, believed his client deserved $5 million of the prize money because Borges would have to pay medical bills for the rest of his life. His client was removed from the group because he wouldn’t budge. The conflict continued as the families and surviving victims negotiated a $127 million settlement with the FBI. The Borgeses eventually reached their own settlements.
Borges, 21, was shot five times in the torso and legs. The once-promising soccer star nearly bled to death.
“The Borges are tired of being treated like second-class citizens,” Arreaza said after the hearing. “We never wanted to talk about it before, but the reality is that they excluded us from the group because they wanted to dictate to us what we should get, and the Borges have every right to ask for what they asked for.”
But David Brill, the lead attorney for the Pollack, Hoyer and Petty and Wilford families, said Arreaza insulted the families by telling them he was tired of hearing about their deceased loved ones and exaggerated the amount of Borges’ future medical bills.
“This bad blood, on our side, we have repeatedly done what was right for the Borges, despite this history, at every turn, even in this case. And this is the thanks we receive,” Brill said after the hearing.
Phillips had to intervene several times during Thursday’s 90-minute session, as the parties yelled at each other and accused each other of dishonesty. In one exacerbated moment, the judge even half-joked that the level of animosity was so high that she felt like she was presiding over a contested divorce — and granting it.
The immediate struggle over the dueling colonies takes place in two parts.
First, Brill argued that state law prevents Borges from acquiring the rights to Cruz’s name and likeness and any money he might make from his story, because Cruz was stripped of them when he was convicted.
Regardless, Brill said, one person should not have the right to decide whether Cruz should be allowed to give interviews. That right should belong to all the families and survivors, he argued, which would ensure that Cruz is never heard from again. Cruz, 25, is serving a life sentence in an unnamed prison.
Second, he said, Arreaza violated a verbal contract to cooperate in their prosecution of Cruz, split the annuity money and give it to charity, if it ever came to fruition. Instead, Brill said, Arreaza quietly got the killer to settle without telling anyone until it was done.
Arreaza insists that Brill is lying about a verbal contract and that Borges needs the money from the potential annuity to help pay for his future medical care. He insists that state law does not prevent Cruz from signing on his behalf and signing away his potential future income, but he also said that Borges would never agree to let Cruz give an interview, so the other families should not worry about it.
Phillips said she would decide later whether Borges, the families or someone else holds Cruz’s publicity rights, but urged the parties to negotiate an annuity deal. Otherwise, she would hold a hearing that she said would be painful for both the families and Borges and would give Cruz the attention he wants again.
She said she was particularly saddened that Thursday’s hearing came a day after four people were killed in a Georgia school shooting and that she believed the parties were letting their animosity toward each other overshadow the immense tragedy they have all experienced.
“Everyone should focus on their thoughts,” she told the lawyers. “Is that what everyone wants to focus on?”
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