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Subscribe to RSSSuspect James Holmes, who seemed dazed and unengaged in court last week, on Monday appeared alert and attentive as a judge told him he faced 142 separate felony charges. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Prosecutors on Monday filed two sets of first-degree murder charges against James Eagan Holmes for each of the of 12 deaths that occurred during a theater massacre in Aurora, Colo., on July 20, effectively laying the groundwork for a fallback strategy in the event Holmes’ lawyers successfully mount an insanity defense.
The dual charges — "murder with deliberation" and killing with "extreme indifference to the value of human life" — give the jury a choice of two avenues to a potential death penalty sentence under Colorado law, NBC's Pete Williams reported.
Under state law, murder with deliberation is equivalent to premeditated murder, while the "extreme indifference” charge covers actions that demonstrate "an attitude of universal malice."
It isn’t unusual for prosecutors to file two murder charges for one victim in Colorado, according to a prosecutor cited by the Aurora Sentinel.
"It’s very common for prosecutors to charge cases in all of the various ways that they believe they can prove a case," Karen Steinhauser, a former Denver prosecutor now in private practice, told the paper.
Holmes, who appeared briefly in court Monday morning to hear the charges against him, also was charged with 116 counts of attempted murder, as well as one count of illegal possession of explosives, according to court documents.
A former University of Colorado graduate student, Holmes is accused of carrying out the bloody attack on moviegoers at the midnight premiere of "A Dark Knight Rises" after wiring his apartment with enough explosives to have leveled the building if they had detonated.
In Aurora massacre, trial may not shed much light on motive
During his second appearance in court since his arrest, the defendant spoke once, saying "yes" to waive his right to a preliminary hearing within 35 days, according to a tweet by Denver Post courts reporter John Ingold.
The trial could turn on questions of Holmes' state of mind, Craig Silverman, a former chief deputy district attorney in Denver, told the Associated Press.
"I don't think it's too hard to predict the path of this proceeding," he said. "This is not a whodunit. ... The only possible defense is insanity."
According to the law in Colorado, defendants are not legally liable for their acts if they cannot differentiate between right and wrong, the report said. However, "Care should be taken not to confuse such mental disease or defect with moral obliquity, mental depravity or passion growing out of anger, revenge, hatred or other motives, and kindred evil conditions," the law stipulates, the AP said.
Drawn-out timeline
The court schedule suggests that Holmes will not enter a plea until at least the week of Nov. 12, NBC News' correspondent Mike Taibbi reported. The timing allows for deliberation on how much evidence will remain sealed from public view, including communications between Holmes and a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado.
Last week, law enforcement gained possession of a package that Holmes apparently mailed to the psychiatrist, Lynne Fenton, before the attack. Unconfirmed reports said that the package, which had not yet been delivered to Fenton, contained a notebook with writings and illustrations of shootings.
Holmes' attorneys said Fenton had been treating their client and that all communication should remain private under doctor-patient privilege. News organizations have asked the judge to unseal the contents of the package and communications between Holmes and Fenton.
Not until after the plea is entered would the prosecution announce whether it will pursue the death penalty for Holmes if he is convicted of first-degree murder. Prosecutors have said they would seek input from victims before making that decision.
The minimum sentence for first-degree murder in Colorado is life in prison, Taibbi reported.
Poll: Views on gun laws unchanged after Aurora theater massacre
Holmes was enrolled in the neuroscience Ph.D. program at the university but withdrew in June. Neighbors said withdrawal from the program would likely have triggered his eviction from the building, which is reserved for people affiliated with the school.
Investigators said Holmes had amassed weapons, ammunition and explosives over the course of several months.
He was arrested in the parking lot of the Century Aurora 16 theater shortly after the shootings and told officers his apartment contained explosives, police said. That information prompted evacuation of Holmes' apartment building and those surrounding it until law enforcement teams could disarm the jumble of wires and explosive devices set to detonate by trip wires.
Police said he referred to himself as Joker, an apparent reference to one of the villains in the Batman comic series.
In his initial court appearance on July 23, Holmes was dressed in red prison garb, and had his hair dyed bright red. He looked off into the distance or down at the table, at times knitting his brow in a quizzical expression or as if he was trying to concentrate. He did not speak.
In this second appearance, no cameras were allowed in court. Holmes appeared with his hands and feet shackles according to the Sentinel. He was unshaven and his hair color had faded, it said.
Denver Post courts reporter John Ingold tweeted from the hearing that "Holmes was more put together today. His hair was combed — though still red. He seemed to pay attention. Not quite engaged, but listening."
According to another tweet from the courthouse from Coloradoan reporter Trevor Hughes, "suspect Holmes showed no reaction when judge told him he faces poss. death penalty sentence if convicted of murder."
The courtroom was packed on Monday, reported Denver Post staff reporter Kristen Painter, with an overflow room for victims and family who could not get in or did not want to be in the room.
Painter tweeted: "A woman, escorted by victims advocate, walked into courtroom crying-clutching a photo of 6-year-old Veronica & her mother," — a reference to Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the youngest victim to die in the shooting, and her mother Ashley Moser, who was critically wounded.
Holmes will not face an additional homicide charge for the miscarriage suffered by Moser after she was injured in the shooting, NBC's Leanne Gregg reported.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Family: Mom wounded in Aurora suffers miscarriage
- Sources: Kidnap victim found tied up in detective's garage
- 3 killed in Pa.; suspect fled with daughter, 4
- Video: 'Full of life' -- Colo. victims mourned
Leave a Comment:
Question: What should be done with him? Question: What do you do with a rabid dog? Questions: Asked and answered!
He doesn't have rabies nor is he a dog.
DOCJT...refreshing to see a voice of intelligence ringing out from the lynch mob.
I'm surprized there are so many people, letting emotions substitute for reason , are prepared to hop back into the middle ages. Bring out the rack! Jeez...
30 days to get his affairs in order and then waste him like the cockroach that he is !!
Yes, life would be easier if everyone you didn't like was really a cockroach.
I think hims is thinking of what the f— — — was I thinking had to be on some Bad Ass Drug for a Month I would check into his psychiatrist what the hell he prescribed to this Young Man
And what drugs are you taking?
The NRA should be charged as accessories to the shooting for blocking every law that would have prevented mentally deficient nutcases like this from getting their hands on semi-automatic weapons and armor piercing bullets.
I don't think the NRA is the problem here. These people will find a way to carry out their sick schemes. If he was unable to buy the guns legally, he would have just stolen them. He could have walked into the theatre and bombed the place. When the mind is hell bent on destruction, I don't think anyone and anything will stand in the way.
Hi Cameron,
The NRA has blocked nothing that would have prevented someone being mentally incompetent from obtaining a firearm. Even if that were true, Holmes would have had to have been listed somewhere he was mentally incompetent and that kind of tracking does not exist. How about we hold the theater responsible for stripping people of their rights to protect themselves instead?
Cameron, by what method are you going to determine that a person legally buying a firearm is a "mentally deficient nucase" without running into the privacy laws. What do you do about a "sane" person who already owns weapons who then becomes a "mentally deficient nutcase"? Even if Holmes tries an insanity defense, it will probably not work as there was too much planning that went on as proof that he knew right from wrong. But really, how would "we" have stopped him in the first place? Details, procedures, are needed from your ilk and those need to be legal ones at that.
Go out and buy some armor piercing bullets. Let us know how that works out for you.
Actually, if you want to be mad at someone over guns, try the Congress. They pass the gun laws. The NRA just lobbies (like the unions and everybody else) but its the congressional recipients who deposit their checks.
I am convinced, beyond a doubt, that he planned an eventual insanity cop-out right along with planning the killings. I believe he has a massive ego and planned from the beginning to carry out the murders and then to plead insanity just to prove he could get away with it since he believes he is so much smarter than everyone else. So, all of a sudden he's bewildered, confused, vacant....is that so? Well, what happened to the guy who meticulously planned and prepared for this for many months? He had it all figured out...right down to the tear gas, his bullet-proof outfit, booby-trapping his apartment, etc........do they think he could turn into a vacant zombie overnight? Give me a break. His overblown ego is toying with the system. I just hope with all my heart he doesn't succeed in duping the psychiatrists and jury into playing into his hands by declaring him insane.
It seems some people want to make this a Political, Religious or Conspiracy Rhetoric rather then it's the Perpetrator and NO one else. You can't blame Obama, Bush, Romney, NRA, God or the Grassy Knoll for this tragedy. This murderer should be brought to trial, sentenced to what the Judge and Jury demands under the Law. For those who want to use this to get someone elected, bring a God into this or what happened to Frank Sinatra in a fiction movie need to have their own heads examined. People need to be held accountable for their OWN actions, period!
Please, Lord, please, let him be insane. Do you really want to live in a world where "sane" people commit this kind of atrocity?
Declare him insane, throw him in an institution, & let the psychiatrists have their way with him for the rest of his life. Since mere physical pain would be a pleasure excursion by comparison, & death a welcome relief, this could be ruled as "cruel & unusual". Maybe we could avoid that by making it a judicial disposition.
There's even a chance, however slim, the psyhiatrists might learn something about this kind of behavior. Our only other options eliminate any chance.
Best of all, the usual nonsense "it was a political statement", "the devil made me do it", "it's God's will", "I'm a matyr for the cause", "mommy neglected me", "daddy abused me", "society was mean to me", "something just came over me", etc. are bypassed. It's none of those things, it's just crazy.
Now that's a deterent: You will spend the rest of your life in the looney bin, while we experiment on you to see what makes you tick.
Sane people already do a whole lot worse.
Sane people elected W., twice.
Sane people think they want Romney.
Please don't make this political. This has absolutely nothing to do with politics. It always bothers me when horrendous things like this happen and there are those who instantly relate it to politics or religion. This is a horrible tragedy that was caused by one person so full of hatred that he probably doesn't care about the innocent lives lost or those injured. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS OR RELIGION..............please don't make any excuses for this person or put the blame anyplace but where it belongs - ON HIM AND HIM ALONE.
Musician, unfortunately for the majority of people who rightly see this man as cuckoo, the legal definition of insanity in Colorado is being incapable of telling right from wrong. Holmes actions in planning this act, carrying it out and booby-trapping his apartment argue, legally, for sanity. The only question I have is whether the Aurora DA has the cojones to go for the death penalty, otherwise watch for Holmes to be convited and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
@stubbornlady......Thank you for telling it like it really is. There is also the Conspiracy Theory Rhetoric that some like to give as an excuse. It's almost like you want to "knock, knock...is their anybody home on their cranial" They are crass and pathetic looking for something else to blame for someones actions.
Thanks for agreeing. I also agree with your comments. I read some of the statements here and feel like I'm living in another world - a world where anything goes and there is always a way out and you never have to be responsible for your actions. I'm always happy when I hear something good about this - someone else went home from the hospital and will be physically ok. On the other hand there is the mother who lost her child, was injured herself and has now miscarried........................................how anyone can make excuses for the invidividual who caused all this is beyond me.
It's hard not to see tragic events and not realize that 99% of them have either a political or religious cause.
AND blaming others for one's deeds or misdeeds is simply a staple of everyday life.
Dump a hot McCoffee in your lap, sue McDonalds.
Drink too much at the bar, kill someone on the way home, sue the bartender.
Run your business into the ground, force the tax payers to bail out your CEO's bonuses.
It's what we've become - the only personal responsibility left is that it is your responsibility to find someone else to blame.
As long as illegal guns and illegal gun owners are out there, as long as we are allowed by law to own all types of guns and ammunition,as long as we have the right to defend ourselves-> Any legal gun owner should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. This is by no means a perfect solution but lives will be saved and every phycho will know they are taking their lives in their hands when decide to have a murder festival.
By definition the psycho may know the guns are there and simply not care and carry out their demented plans anyway.
24 counts of murder, 12 dead... our amazing legal system at work. Last time I checked, and it was while straddling a Jihadist, it's only possible to kill someone once. I know, I tried.
Math like this makes it little wonder we can't balance state budgets, let alone federal ones.
But that much aside, there is only one correct outcome for this : James Holmes must be put down.
Actually, it's 1 charge of first degree murder and 1 charge of first degree murder with complete indifference to human life per victim. The difference is one is charged for expressed intent to kill and the other is charged for the implied malice, hence how he can be charged twice per vitcim. Implied malice is proven by acts that involve reckless indifference to human life or in a death that occurs during the commission of certain felonies (including murder).
On top of this, if there is another participant (no evidence so far), there would be two more charges per victim, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder with complete indifference to human life. That would be 48 murder related charges and 232 attempted murder related charges!
I find it sad that so many people don't seem to understand how our legal system works. But the 24 counts are explained in the article.
This MONSTER was smart enough, and clear headed enough and mentally capable of planning and carrying out this horrendous act. I really doubt that anyone, without his best interest in mind, would doubt that he is of sound mind. This is so horrible on so many levels and will continue to haunt those involved forever. I already doubt the Judicial system.....................................................if this MONSTER is not found guilty on all counts and punished to the maximum, then we really have lost all sense of responsibility to each other. He was smart enough to do the crime, he's smart enough to serve the sentence..................................
It has nothing to do with intelligence. It has everything to do with a mentally ill state.
He is insane there is no question. Anyone who kills another person out of malice is insane in my book.
Insane or not he went very far and I wonder where homeland security was during all this. Purchasing an arsenal of weapons including material to make explosive devices should have raised flags somewhere. In my opinion,
the purchase of several firearms in a short period could have and should have prevented this tragedy.
How did the ATF, FBI, and everyone else miss this?
Four weapons is an arsenal? Hyperbole does not help here. One AR-15, one shotgun, two Glock handguns. Explosives? The main ingredients were 30 grenades and 10 gallons of gas. IMO 28 of those grenades were surperfluous, the 10 gallons of gas was the real problem. If you decide that owning 4 weapons is a reason for the BATFE to get involved, they are going to be very, very busy. Even thirty grenades would get BATFE really busy. So Holmes flew under the radar of the gov watchdogs who have lots of other real-world concerns. Also, thankfully, Aurora will be using Colorado's definition of insanity, not yours.
The weapons aren't even the issue. The ammunition is the issue. He purchased something like 6000 rounds of ammo online? How does THAT not get flagged with somebody...
I think in cases where the murderer was captured at the scene of the crime, they should speed up the death penalty process. The video said, it is a lengthy process. The only reason I can think of would be the chance the person can be innocent. In this case, he was clearly the one who opened fire on the crowd. why does it have to be so lengthy? A person has the right to his/her day in court, but laws should be enacted that speed up the process in these special cases.
It's called money. The State Lawyers and Courts cost (all tax payers money). Speedy and quick trial don't make the bucks. Then if he gets Death all the appeals the time waiting for execution ALL cost money. Then after 15 years they put him away for something he did a couple of weeks ago. That being said only one person in 35 plus years since Colorado had the Death Penalty has been executed what do you think the chances of that are? So what is worse is that the Judge and Jury give a sentence that is NEVER carried out and some Group or another Judge years later is able to just Stop the sentence that the Court gives. Nice Justice System, huh?
Sad part is...we the people voted for that system. I am starting to think that people want punishment to be lenient in case they themselves commit the crime. Kinda like when Mom said OK you pick the punishment, so you pick going to your room and play video-games. Money and justice shouldn't mix and again...we vote for that stuff. Ideally, people should protest that our system spends too much money on clear cut cases and the punishment is four meals a day and all the peace and quiet you can get. Life doesn't cut it, do we give other animals life when they hurt humans or other animals? We have no problem and it is because they aren't human, we can't connect that it is the same thing. I feel that if we put to death an animal who displays the same emotions as a killer than a killer in turn should be treated in the same way. A lot of us won't do that because if down the road, we commit a crime worthy of death, we can get out of it by at least living our lives and that is not fair to the ones that parish in crimes like that.
He is faking both amnesia and lunacy! For someone that supposedly is so smart, you would think he would know better than to try to lie about his mental state. I hope he rots in jail... Giving him lethal injection, would be the easy way out!
And you base your diagnostic conclusions on exactly what?
I'm thinking of something blue...I'm thinking of something Blu-ew. Can you guess what it is? Oh, that's right, you already know how to read minds.
"Holmes was also formally charged with 116 counts of attempted murder, according to The Associated Press."
Does anyone know if this was the number of people in the theater in addition to the victims?
12 dead, 58 wounded, two counts for each (murder and murder with depraved indifference to human life), making 24 1st degree murder charges and 116 attempted murder charges.
Insane my A$$ this was pre-planned.
AE that is for the 58 victims that were wounded as well.
Oh! Thank you.
Pre-planning has little to do with not being sane. If fact, most well planned crimes of this nature are planned by those who could be legally and clinically insane. Those who do not plan their murders, and commit them on the spur of the moment are generally sane, and acting in what is known as the capacity of a "crime of passion".
Just another selfish pu$$y that had something happen in his life and wanted to take it out on others, so the whole world could share in his pain. This is the type of self absorbed society we are creating.
If it makes you feel any better, it was much worse in the middle ages.
Can you just imagine what would have happened if Colorado had "Open Carry" when Holmes came in killing those people?
He'd have been the Little Yellow Duck in the Carnival Shooting Gallery! There's a great video out there of an little ole man with a 380 running off two heavily armed robbers of an Internet Cafe!
Just remove the spaces......
www. youtube. com /watch?v=GhbarunzTtc&feature=g-all-lik
Now that's displaying "Real" Gun control!
Colorado does. The theater has a no gun policy.
Then that Policy should be the first reason listed in the soon to be coming Law Suites suing that Theater Corporation for all they are worth!
Because "Unarmed" Citizens is always the number one reason these kinds of events keep occurring.
All the Government wants to do is ban our Rights to Defend ourselves against Them and these Wacked Out Criminals they want to use as their excuse!
Yah well the more and more people who choose to protect themselves to day get told they cannot carry in a specific business WILL go find another business that will let them. The problem will eventually remedy itself when those who chose to stop us find themselves out of business. I for one will not frequent a business if there's a sign in the window forbidding me to carry!
Yeah, I can imagine what would have happened. More innocent victims killed by people shooting anywhere and everywhere during the panic.
Most responsible carriers are trained better than that Doc. He's in the open with a wall behind him for the most part.
It isn't the responsible ones I worry about AirborneDad. It is the ones with the hero complex, too much fear, and inability to act rationally in the face of a crisis.
Yes, we would be especially lucky if half of them had grenades as well. Harder to miss that way, even while in a panic.
lets hand over this red head to taliban, they no exactly what to do with this cute boy
He knows where he is. When they first brought him into the jail he spit and cursed at the guards and asked for an attorney. And I would have a great way of reminding him where he is. Just tell him he is going into the general population where some have promised to kill him. That will wake him up big time! This guy prepared too much for this and now we have the cry for help with a package he sent to a shrink! I know our system says innocent until proven guilty but they have this guy dead to rights and if a doctor is going to testify that he is insane then the prosecution should have their own doctor examine him. Of course I feel that anyone that does this sort of stuff is insane but he knows what he did and is fully aware of it. I realize that defense attornies must protect their clients but I could never be a public defender and defend this jerk!
His belated mailing to his psychiatrist seems like he was trying to preemptivly set up an insanity defense in the event he was caught.
Why waste time of many years of legal process and many years of money spent on his process......Oh I know its not the american way........But and exception should be made this time around. He is absolutely disgusting.
What? I thought they were they going to charge him with self defense. Screw the trial. they should kill him the same they he killed those people, death by firing squad. F-ing idiot. the look on his face is pathetic.
Whether he used explosives Knives or guns there is only one to Blame and That is the Idiot you are looking at in the Orange Hair. Automobiles are Dangerous they don't cause crashes Ignorance does. Guns don't Kill People Knives don't Kill people,Explosives are triggered by what lets play Hangman and I will give everyone the first and last letter P— — — — E Kill P— — — — E
2ndamendment,
I do hope that you are under strict psychiatric supervision of your own. You are the next tragedy waiting to happen.
If you are going to make a list of all the things that kill people, be sure to add tornados as well. Fortunately, the insane can't buy a Tornados.
SERIOUSLY????? The NRA had nothing to do with this monster! The person who should be charged as an accessory is his shrink who had the notebook and knew what he was capable of doing. If a person wants a gun bad enough there are ways to obtain illegally as well, ever heard of the Black Market. He was going to go thru with this sick plan regardless.
The notebook was in the mail room and was not delivered to the shrink. The notebook may be covered by doctor/patient privilege and be useless to the prosecution (not that they need it). If the defense brings the notebook into evidence, they will probably have to bring in all of it, letting the prosecution use it also, so if it is covered by doc/pat privilege, this is the last we will hear of it.