A lawyer for a survivor of the mass school shooting in Parkland is gearing for appeal after a judge ruled his client lacked legal standing to disqualify attorneys from the criminal case.

Family attorney Alex Arreaza represents Anthony Borges, who was shot five times in the Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He filed a motion on his client's behalf to force lawyers on both sides to step down from the criminal case against confessed shooter Nikolas Jacob Cruz.

But Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected the effort to remove the Broward public defender's office, which represents Cruz, and the Broward state attorney's office, which is prosecuting him.

State Attorney Michael Satz has announced he would personally take charge of the case. Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill is leading the defense.

“Without any need to address the merits of the claims raised in the instant motions, this court finds that Mr. Arreaza, on behalf of his client, as a nonparty, lacks standing to motion this court for the specific requests for relief set forth,” Scherer ruled in a March 21 order dismissing Borges' filing.

Now, Arreaza wants the judge to clarify her ruling, which he suggests focused on him — and not the victim.

“When you read the order, doesn't it sound like it's addressed to me?” Arreaza asked Tuesday.

He raised the point in a motion for reconsideration and clarification filed March 29.

“The order goes on to mention undersigned counsel, Mr. Arreaza, by name in its decision seven times, yet only mentions the victim, Anthony Borges, on whose behalf the motions were filed, once,” Arreaza wrote. “To be clear, both motions to disqualify were filed on behalf of a victim in this case. Undersigned counsel is not, and never has been, a party to this action, nor is undersigned counsel seeking to be heard on his own behalf.”

Florida's Constitution gives victims the right to participate in criminal proceedings. But the question was how Scherer would interpret Borges' attempt to intervene with a request to remove attorneys.

“I don't know if it was just the wording that she chose … but at some point, it almost makes it sound like the court said I don't have standing,” Arreaza said. “If she doesn't recognize (Borges') constitutional right to be heard, then it's going to be appealed. It's not 99 percent. It's 100 percent going to be appealed.”

The Arreaza Law Firm's 15-year-old client was shot in his torso and both legs during the rampage at the school.

“It's engulfed me,” Arreaza said. “This case has taken up a third of my day for the last month.”

Cruz could face the death penalty after a grand jury indictment charged him with 17 counts of first-degree premeditated murder and 17 counts of first-degree attempted murder.

Arreaza claimed he uncovered documents and behavior that “undermine the credibility and integrity” of the two public agencies on opposing sides of the criminal proceedings.

These documents include a 2016 agreement, the Collaborative Agreement on School Discipline, which sought to stem the arrests of children for minor offenses on school premises.

The agreement was reached by the Broward chief circuit judge, Broward County School Board, the public defender's office, state attorney's office, Broward Sheriff's Office, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and other agencies. Its goal was to correct the disproportionate arrests of minority children for offenses where other peers would go unpunished.

Arreaza suggested the policy helped create an environment that shielded Cruz and masked multiple warning signs — making it a prime piece of evidence in the death penalty case. But he said he doubts either side would use the document because of their participation in its creation.

Arreaza argued this projected failure could lead Cruz to appeal the trial outcome based on “ineffective assistance of counsel,” which could subject the Borges family to a traumatic second trial, according to the attorney.

Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, McNeill's supervisor, and Satz both declined comment.

Arreaza is still fighting Scherer's decision to allow the attorneys to remain on the Cruz case.

“My client's parents don't want anything to fall through the cracks,” he said.