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Bill Robles / Reuters
A picture of shooting suspect James Holmes is shown in courtroom sketch from a preliminary hearing in Centennial, Colo., on Wednesday.
The preliminary hearing in the Aurora massacre case closed Wednesday with an indelible image: suspect James Holmes smiling into the camera while gripping a semiautomatic handgun, just six hours before the rampage.
The photo recovered from Holmes’ cellphone was one of dozen pictures prosecutors offered as evidence before they told a judge that the former grad student “didn't care who he killed.”
The defense presented no witnesses at the hearing, and the judge will rule on Friday whether there is enough evidence to put Holmes on trial for the July 20 mass murder at a suburban Colorado multiplex.
The prosecution’s last witness was an Aurora police detective who cataloged the photos, meant to show that Holmes painstakingly planned the ambush that killed 12 and wounded 58 during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.’
There were four photos of the inside and outside of the Century 16 theater, two taken as early as June 29. More arresting was a series of creepy self-portraits taken the evening of July 19 – Holmes’ hair dyed a shocking red and his eyes darkened by black contacts.
The preliminary hearing for James Holmes, who is accused of killed 12 in the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre, ended Wednesday when Holmes' defense attorney chose to call no witnesses to testify about Holmes' mental state. The judge will issue a ruling by Friday as to whether or not a trial will begin, and there is already speculation that the case may end with a plea agreement. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
In one, he stuck out his tongue. In another, he held an explosive device and puckered his lips. A third showed him smiling, holding a semiautomatic pistol in front of the lens.
Other pictures showed what prosecutors say were the tools his destruction: an assault rifle with a scope, a pump-action shotgun, a gas mask, helmet and body armor, all laid out on his bed. A few photos showcased the booby-traps that he allegedly set to explode in his home after the shooting.
Prosecutors said the photos, along with testimony from a parade of law-enforcement officers, left no doubt that Holmes was the gunman or that he was hell-bent on maximum carnage in the “perfect venue.”
“He didn't care who he killed or how many he killed, because he wanted to kill all of them," prosecutor Karen Pearson said
Holmes’ lawyer, Daniel King, had the go-ahead to call two witnesses who would testify about his client’s mental state. But he decided not to put anyone on the stand, saying the hearing was not the right forum for a “truncated” defense.
Scott Robinson, a Denver lawyer who is not involved in the case but has attended the proceedings, said it would be unusual for the defense to call witnesses during the preliminary hearing and show its hand to the other side.
The defense doesn't call witnesses in the preliminary hearing of the accused Aurora theater gunman. NBC's Leanne Gregg reports.
“They did the right thing,” Robinson said.
Holmes, who is expected to mount an insanity defense, will return to court Friday. If the judge decides the case is going to trial, he will be arraigned on more than 160 counts of murder, attempted murder and weapons possession.
Bill Robles / Reuters
A picture of Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes, recovered from his cellphone, is shown in courtroom sketch from Thursday's preliminary hearing.
Legal experts said it would be stunning if the judge did not find there was probable cause for the case to proceed.
“In 31 years, I can think of one case where a court did not find probable cause,” former Denver prosecutor Karen Steinhauser said.
She said that if Holmes pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, the judge will order mental health evaluations and a trial date will not be set right away.
It’s possible that the defense and prosecution could strike a plea deal, in which case this week’s hearing will have been the closest thing to a trial. Much of the evidence is still under wraps because of a court-imposed gag order.
The three-day hearing focused on accounts from officers who arrested Holmes outside the theater and tried to save the victims inside. The testimony was at times graphic and heart-breaking, leaving witnesses and spectators – many of them relatives of the killed and injured – in tears.
Throughout, Holmes was impassive, sitting nearly motionless in a jail-issue jumpsuit, the dyed crimson mop he sported in the pre-slaughter photos replaced by messy brown hair and a beard.
NBC News’ Kevin Watters, Denver’s KUSA and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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I quickly scanned the posts, which are 'all over the board.'
I may have missed someone's post on same, but my post involves the article - about the hearing:
I wonder if it is prudent, at least in this case, to allow the 'perp' to be present at the hearing and resultant trial (maybe the law should be changed for cases like these). The article states how the 'perp' (here, I won't acknowledge him as even a person with a name) mugged gruesomely on camera before he murdered. Now, he gets to hear re-enactments of his heinous behavior, and view the grievous reactions of those victimized; might these events serve to increase a possible reveling in the 'perp's' mind on his growing notoriety (seeing how he mugged on camera) - in effect, a perverse reward in the "perp's" warped mind? Disassociating the 'perp' from any information about himself and his deed - in effect, "writing him off" regarding mankind and humanity - seems appropriate.
OMO
I own more than a few guns. the part of the 2nd all the gun lobbyist ignore is "A well REGULATED militia". The second was used to protect us against our own government by civil militia not individuals who seem to think they are part of a militia.
Can you explain this better, cooch? Do you mean that you're a member of a militia, and that only those like you should have the right to possess firearms?
(This could be the first gun control comment I've read in this year that hasn't been regurgitated 1000's of times already - from both sides).
2 points.
1. "Well Regulated", in 18th century English, meant "properly functioning" not "tightly controlled"
2. The Constitution of most States says the militia is made up of all able bodied men of military service age. To my knowledge, none of these have been repealed.
"none of these have been repealed"
or effectively practised
There are many writings/musings/observations our forefathers put down on paper.As I recall,one of them says that the second amendment actually means that the govt can't encroach on this right AS IT EXISTS BEYOND THE REALM OF LAW OR GOVT
Case closed, throw him in a movie theater and blow his ass away.
According to the prosecution - of course they're going to say that!
All gun owners smile when posing with their guns. They love having the power to kill.
You're correct in a sense. It does feel good knowing that you own a tool that can save your life or the life of a loved one. There is nothing wrong with that. Only a fool depends on the police.
they say they believe in God, but truly worship the Gun
I'm shocked at the lack of compassion and sheer hate demonstrated here. No matter what the suspect did, he is still a human being and deserves to be treated with mercy, like a quick bullet to the head.
There is definitely more than enough evidence for a trial. He knew what he was doing. The trial will take place this summer as it should.
He's not insane, he knows exactly what he did and planned how he was going to act if he got caught. He is just hateful and evil. Death penalty, please.
Let us not waste taxpayer's money or time, just do the fair thing. A "coin toss". Heads, your dead, tails, your derailed to an eternity of Hell. A trail is not going to save his puny little ass, he is a dead man walking. Why subject the good people of Aurora to relive the horrors day in and day out. He would just as soon shoot you, or me, please remove him permanently from our lives and the lives of the victim's families. Flip that coin!
Sounds like exactly what our forefathers envisioned when they thought of America's justice system. No, wait, that's North Korea.
*you're*
*trial*
Under the guise of "the public has a right to know".. the media has given this killer and all others extremely fine coverage, encouraging others to follow his footsteps. There was a time when people shunned and abhorred this type of information. Not any more. Way to go Holmes... you're infamous.
Voice...
See post #81...whether the operative phrase is 'infamy' or 'notoriety' is moot; our contentions match.
The boy has a date with a needle...
Ugh, keep the coals burning corporate media, you're motives are insultingly obvious. Why aren't we decrying the lives directly and indirectly lost every year due to alcohol consumption? That number is ten fold the number of deaths due to gun violence. And don't give me the "It's the person's choice and they're only harming/killing themselves" bit. Scores of innocent adults and children die at the hands of an alcohol abuser every year, yet we all turn a blind eye because, lets face it, who doesn't enjoy happy hour with friends/co-workers? WAKE UP people, gun violence is terrible, but its FAR from the top of the list of deadly behaviors in this country. You want to make a difference? Cry at the top of your lungs to ban alcohol!!! Oh, prohibition didn't work, you say? What makes you think it'll work for guns? Why would that be any different? Seriously, banning guns is a slippery slope to unimaginable horrors, it's not gonna be the land of lollipops and candy canes people seem to be imagining.
Let me tell you all a story that I think will prove enlightening about how these mass shootings happen and how to prevent them:
I have a step-brother who has FAS, paranoid schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Before he was finally institutionalized in a secured group home, he spent eighteen hours a day playing violent video games involving super-heroes and super-villains. He spent the rest of his time reading violent comic books. He dressed with super-villian clothes, and he posted his many violent fantasies online, in which he portrayed himself as a super-hero (or villain, as the case may be) who would go around town killing people that he felt "deserved" to die after being acquitted of crimes. He did not merely fantasize about this alter-ego; he believed that he was Batman, or that Batman and a few other comic book characters were talking to him and following him around even though no one else could see or hear them.
He was harmless while taking medications, but he stopped taking his meds... again, and again, and again, and so he relapsed again, and again, and again. In spite of posting threats online, in spite of openly publishing his violent fantasies online, and in spite of having chopped a dozen holes in the walls of his home with an ax!!!!... his mother had NO SUCCESS putting him away when she called the police, called the mental health crisis team, and doing everything else within her power, legally, to put him in a mental hospital. Why? Because he would tell the cops, and the mental health workers, "I'm not thinking about hurting anyone. It's all just comic book stuff, you know, creative writing." Including the ax holes in the walls, eh? Apparently so, since they released him TWICE after his mother signed papers to have him evaluated. Meanwhile, Social Security denied his disability claim because... well, who the hell knows? That's how it works, ya know.
At last this young man made good on his threats, beating the living hell out of his own sister in a fit of rage born of his delusions. When the police arrived, he lunged at them, too, and was quickly put down and taken into custody. Now, after several months and several thousand dollars of legal fees, the system finally listened to his mother and put him in a secured group home, where he has no choice but to take his meds, cannot leave without an escort, and will never have access to a weapon again.
I do not need to tell you how this story might have ended otherwise. What I would like to know is, why is something who is that openly and outrageously out of control cut loose to walk the streets again and again and again, and we have to wait till he actually hurts someone to put him away? Generally, I do not believe in locking people up based on what they "might" do, but that this young man was a ticking time bomb was as obvious as daylight to anyone who knew him. Why in the hell did the mental health workers, the police, and the State wait until he beat his sister to a pulp before putting him away?
By the way, I am that sister...
agreed... we need effective mental health exams to allow liscensing of ownership of firearms
the NRA did everything possible to make sure this nut case could own an arsenal... and continues to do so
This nutcase was shown as smiling with a gun, sticking his tongue out, etc. What else would anyone expect from a madman?
of course he was smiling! he was on psychotropics.
IF, this clown was insane, he would do this over and over expecting different results. ( Einstein) Hang him now. Please and THANK YOU!
I will use Jared Loughner as the example here. He was clearly mentallly incompetent yet they found him guilty. Life in prison will be his sentence.
So... why can't we see the real picutres supposedly found on his phone?