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Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office via AFP - Getty Images
James Eagan Holmes is scheduled to be arraigned March 12 in the July 2012 Colorado theater shootings that killed 12 people.
James Eagan Holmes, the man charged with killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a crowded Colorado movie theater last year, may seek to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, his lawyers indicated in court documents made public Friday.
Holmes, 25, allegedly stormed a theater in Aurira, Colo., showing the premiere of "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" on July 20 and opened fire with an armament of legally acquired weapons. He is charged with 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and other offenses.
Prosecutors still haven't said whether they intend to seek the death penalty for Holmes, who is scheduled to be arraigned March 12, and Friday's filing indicates that the lack of certainty is complicating his defense.
"Mr. Holmes is considering entering a plea pursuant to (the Colorado law governing insanity pleas), but he cannot intelligently decide how to proceed, until this Court rules upon certain legal issues related to the entry of such a plea and advises Mr. Holmes and counsel of the consequences of such a plea.
In five filings, Holmes' lawyers ask the court to declare parts of that law unconstitutional. Specifically, it argues that sections governing when a defendant may waive his right to remain silent and whether he must reveal confidential medical information are unconstitutionally vague.
Holmes' attorneys have previously said he suffers from mental illness, and he is known to have seen a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado Medical School before he dropped out a month before the shootings.
Only one person has been executed in Colorado since it legalized capital punishment in 1976.
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This story was originally published on Fri Mar 1, 2013 6:30 PM EST
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Do we have to look at this idiot's picture we all know who he is? You could at least Photoshop it. Maybe put a bullet hole between his eyes or a couple?
This insanity plea is a joke. There is no way anyone will convince me that this guy was legally insane when he did this. he may very well be mentally ill, in fact to do what he did that is almost a requirement. That sad, there is a big difference between being mentally ill and being legally insane. He spent months planning this out taken very logical precautions to avoid having his plans exposed. He bought ammunition from multiple sources so as to hide the quantity he was buying. He did the same thing with his weapon purchases to avoid calling attention to himself by buying multiple weapons from the same place in a relatively short period of time. He took the time to booby-trap his apartment and then once he was caught he calmly advised the police of his fact. Someone who is legally insane is not going to do the detailed planning this guy did or take the measures he did to avoid getting caught before he acted. I hope that the jury is not naive enough to buy this defense, that is assuming the judge allows it to start with. My guess is that the judge will allow the defense, mainly because it is the only defense he has. There is no doubt that he is the person who killed and injured all those people, so unless his lawyers can prove he was insane at the time he is going to spend the rest of his life in prison or be executed.
The problem with allowing these insanity defenses is that the person can wind up back out on he streets fairly quickly. All he would have to do is convince the doctors that now that he is now on the right medicine he is no longer mentally ill or that his illness is under control. In some cases it can even result in the person walking away even though they are guilty. The defense just has to show that he was insane at the time but is now once again healthy or being properly medicated to avoid further problems. What we need is a finding of guilty but insane where he would get treated in a mental hospital until sane and then be sent to a regular prison to serve out his sentence.
Agreed. Who would ever say, "I want to be a defense attorney when I grow up?" I know someone has to do it, but seriously? Insane? This was premeditated to the point that his apartment was booby trapped. C'mon...
Insane, fine, execute the sick f#ck.
Being "insane" should get an automatic death sentence. We all know that psychiatry can't CURE anyone and being in the clutches of those butchers goes way beyond any deserved punishment. Plus look at all the money we save to spend on people who aren't insane and going around murdering people.
Questioning whether a mass murder must reveal "confidential" medical information is especially stupid.Do we not want to understand the conditions leading to his frame of mind when he decided to commit premeditated murder? Insanity defense is no surprise. Let's not ignore a possible cause of these crimes.Confidentiality should not trump public safety.
I agree with most people. Put this POS to sleep. I bet if he knew he was about to die his eye's would get back in his head right quick!!
Definitely insane (just look at that pic!) but sane enough to plan out this massacre. Public hanging is in order!
Please someone tell me that it is hard to get an insanity verdict. This guy murdered and injured several people - and I believe it was well planned out. We dont get those that much here in Canada but we had one a few years where a man decapitated a women on a bus - used the insanity plea - got in and was back on the streets on day passes two years later. I just hope this guy is put away for good.
If ever anyone was a candidate for being legally insane, it is this guy. All of you evil individuals who want to kill the mentally ill are as SICK as they are. This man needs to be in a mental hospital and all you people want is blood. What evil, sick people you are. What he did was beyond horrible, but he needs to be put away and get mental help. The death penalty is in ALL AND EVERY INSTANCE COMPLETELY WRONG. The premeditated taking of a human life is the ULTIMATE evil and it doesn't matter if it is a thug in a back ally, a psycho in a movie theatre, or the State in a lethal chamber. There is no moral difference. Killing a human being is always and in every instance WRONG!.
Of course he's insane, like a mad dog, and he should be put down like one.
He suffers from an mineral imbalance. he has a lead deficiency. We could help solve thatt for him
the attorney is just doing what the court expects of a officer of the court/ he is a IDO lawyer, of course he would plead insanity, to do otherwise would be a automatic reversal NG by reason of insanity is one of the hardest of defenses; in this case , although mental illness is no doubt, insanity defense will fall due to the preparation and other actions; too bad , we will have to support this nut case for the next 60 years in solitary confindment, he is to crazy to be put in general population.
Hey vinny flip the switch. we need to bullet in this guys brain to provide him with some balance. The survivors must be able to watch him squirm and his miserable existence is finnaly brought to an end.
Just put this clown in general population and let justice be served in prison. This has already went on long enough!
I do not think this guy is insane, he made so many preparations for his murders and then he surrendered to police instead of like dying like a mad dog. Also, him always making these faces when his photos are taking so he looks like a nut, it's too planned out. He was going to college to be some sort of brain surgeon or something. I'd like to see some photos of him before all of this to see if he has always made these faces when he was photographed - I bet not! He planned this and now he is seeing if he can get away with it.
I once heard of a case in Arizona where an interior contractor was retained to build the partitions of a very large office building. The owner had all of the submittal literature for the proposed products, the drawings and the architect had approved the information. The contractor ordered, built and installed the walls. When the owner inspected the fully installed product he refused to pay the contractor because there was a single specified function that wasn't available in the product used. The owner had deep pockets and was able to delay the case until the contractor had to file for bankruptcy. The contractor lost everything in the business he was building for years. He murdered the owner, then killed himself. If he had lived and gone to court for murdering the owner, I would have pondered the insanity defense.
In the case of this ARSEHOLE, James Holmes, I would not. I see no reason to employ the insanity defense. Perhaps what he did was insanely cruel, but that's no defense for the act of carrying it out. There is no innocence here, just pure inconsiderate self deluded stupidity.
It's time to take the insanity defense seriously and logically. If we use it ad hoc, to defend idiots like James Holmes it will inure the general public, and raise opinion against its usage. The are examples of insanity that appeal to our moral sensibility, and there are examples that do not. James Holmes deserves nothing less than the full weight of justice for deliberately destroying or irreversibly damaging so many lives...and for nothing but media attention.
vince,if we live the way you think,we would be speaking german now.there are people who have lost their place in the human race and should be disposed of.this bug eyed f..k is one of them.
This isn't the James Holms brain scientist whatever. The media has anyone who believes this this guy did it brain washed. Goggle devils breath reports of two shooters? This patsy is a scape goat. The movie Dark knight rises has Aurora in neon lite over a movie in a nite scene. Then Sandy Hook appears on a map in the movie the only other name readable is Gotham. What a coincidence These are blacks op's to turn public favor to gun control and confiscation. Hitler Stalin Pot Pol did this and massacre's began. Crash the economy and gun confiscation where's this headin? Prep! Oh! ya that's evil too.
This @!$%# is why everyone hates lawyers. Stick a needle in this piece of garbage's arm already!
If they let this daft bastard off the hook by reason of insanity it will cause a downward spiral in this country in which theater and elementary school shootings will become normal occurances and the twisted @!$%#s responsible for them will have take no responsibility at all. They need to make an example out of this weird turd. An example that says that in the United States of America one can't go around getting thier kicks by executing innocence without being executed themself. It'll become the next big adrenaline kick. People killing children just for the thrill of having done so. Afterwhich they would spend little to no time behind bars for their horribly heinous hijinks. They should string this twisted bastard up like a goddamn pinata and let the families of the victems beat the crazy out of him. Televise the thing and give the other nutters of this country a small taste of what would lay in store for them if they were to act on the far out fantasies they have dancing around in their demented domes. Or we could let them go free, send them to church and watch it all over again. I have no real say. I'm just a happless hopefull with too much time on my hands and too little sense in my head.
So. Vince. Yeah. We have the death penalty to end leeches on our society that butcher other human beings. We shouldn't be caring for people that MASS MURDER. They should be put down and not be a burden on our legal system. So unless you want to cover his food, medical, and legal costs for the rest of us, as well as all the other fine, upstanding murderers and psychopaths that you want to shelter, I would highly suggest you stop going on about how evil we all are. Frankly, you'd be singing a different tune if it were YOUR family members murdered.
If you're going to be a bleeding heart, put yourselves in the shoes of the victims, not the murderer. If you're putting yourself in the shoes of the murderer, then something is obviously wrong with you.
so much rage on the page... I see people that favor capital punishment don't seem to understand that even a single executed innocent individual is one too many. now... I agree this man's crime is unacceptable and should be punished accordingly. on the previous subject, I reflect on a plethora of stories about prisoners being exonerated due to advancements in DNA evidence... sometimes 20, 25 years later. how does one get that time back or acclimate to a society that is foreign to one? this man is clearly guilty & must be sentenced to multiple life sentences. furthermore, Prosecutors need to be held to the highest standard. examples of OJ, Casey Anthony, & potentially, Jodi Arias are crucial to assure that investigations are mistake-free. it's sad to see so many express anger, when Psyc 101 dictates that the anger stems from within.
So then if he is so insane then let the psychiatrist at the University of Colorado Medical School pay for him for the rest of his life. Why make society continually pay for him when he was so easily let through the cracks? Why do people not allow the insane get the care that they need BEFORE they do anything to others? Why are the insane medicated and let loose on their own volition to take their meds without anyone making certain that they actually taking it? And how come people aren't calling for making certain that these mentally ill people have care, period?
The obscene greed in America does not leave enough money to care for the insane.
How lame. Those greedy bastards who want to provide for their OWN KIDS and not everyone else's kids, especially those who think nothing of having ten or fifteen children that they have no way of personally providing for...
Yeah, those poor wall street brokers and their dirty tricks. They're just trying to feed their kids! There's no greed in America, the rich people who buy politicians are so kind and generous that they actually have them enact legislation that overtaxes them and gives way too much to poor people. What princes they are! I've got some ocean-front property in Saskatchewan I can sell you real cheap, Seymour, if you're interested.
He can claim all he wants. The fact is it was premeditated murder and he needs to die soon.
Tilladahun,The answers to your questions is because back in the 1980's then President Ronald Reagan wanted to save the government money.He enacted the Patients Rights Act which means mentally ill people cannot be medicated or held against their permission unless they are a threat to themselves or others.Evidently he was either not being treated and those close to him such as family didn't deem him a threat.When Reagan enacted this law and with the budget cuts that ensued mental hospitals were closing down in this country.It's not nice to judge a person by his photograph but he appears to be mentally ill to me and dangerous looking.He's the poster boy in my book for better mental healthcare in this country and getting rid of the Patients Rights Act.
We have bleeding hearts like Vinny whose views feed the massive "no accountability because..." school of thought in this country. Look around folks, it's all out of control. Until we start taking a hard stance on punishments it's only going to worse.
Why not check into his medical records so we can see what kinds of PRESCRIBED drugs he was taking. Oh but wait.... That might not be admissible!?Or what drugs were in his blood when he was captured? Whose arss are we covering? This man is a patsy. Check connections of his family to the LIBOR scandal. Ask yourself what does that have to do with it? Check into the family connections of the Kindergarten killer, also related to the LIBOR scandal. Think about what our administration is trying to do about gun control?! Now think YOU ARE BEING MANIPULATED byTragedies of the most horrible kind.
Janell B,It is not legal for the public to be privy to his medical records anymore than yours can be made public.He obviously suffers from mental illness and psychosis and was not being treated with any medication.The blame lies with the 1980's budget cuts ala Ronald Reagan.
I agree with Janell b. Need to look at his connection to the LIBOR scandal. His father was the guy who created the algorythms to detect where our hard earned tax paying, bank bailing out monies went. I don't know about the kindergarten killer, but I do recall the LIBOR announcement being made very quickly and then never mentioned again. And, since our government thinks it's okay to tell the media what they can and cannot print (censorship)... to me it looked like he was on mind altering drugs the day he was arrested.
He was not insane, according to our llaws to buy the guns, build the bombs in his apartment, put on the costume and point, aim and shoot people. To normal law abiding people he is not insane but a vehicle for a law firm and many indirect lawyers to sustain the legal "food chain". Attorneys will feed for many years on a defense program, trips to Washington, expert witnesses, great meals, biz class airfare, many meetings for future marketing opportunities...all on the account of taxpayers whom are kept blinded from the actual grand boondoggle business of America's legal system. Could there be any doubt of guilt? Insane or not, America must move towards delivery of these types of people to their afterlife and allow God to judge them. Let their insanity be pled to our loving father God. And further, the delivery method should be strangulation so that he may have a minute or two of intense pain before he loses his consciousness and dangles until his heart stops.
The best part is when he craps his pants! Oh, the indignity! The shame! The stench! Tie off his cuffs with cable ties, and by the time he loses feeling in his feet, it won't matter anymore. Then just zip up the bag, put it in the bucket loader, take it to the sewer plant and pump him through a wood chipper into the holding tanks, for a proper and fitting burial.
Usually, the insanity defense amounts to little more than very expensive legalistic drivel.
Mr. Holmes may indeed be legally insane - and therefore 'not guilty by reason of insanity', but that doesn't mean that the massacre didn't happen.
So, sane or insane, just make sure that he stays locked up. If the death penalty applies,....well, that's just too bad.
A person has to be insane to take another persons life. Temporary or other but insane.
ummm... not in cases of self defense, Jackie. I do appreciate your point & it's an intriguing debate.
YES we know this boy is insane, all the more reason to HANG this one , Hang him at public venue,like Mile High Sta. $20 a head , split the proceeds between the victims familys . I mean really anybody want to house this guy for next 50 yrs, what a waste of our money .
wh1153,This is not Nazi Germany led by Hitler who annihilated people to create a superior human race.We in the US do not execute the mentally insane or should we.Spend some time educating yourself on mental illness,the lack of treatment for it in this country and our laws.People do not ask to be mentally ill.It affects more families than you realize.
Well, it certainly affected the families of the people he murdered and wounded. So you do have a point there.
that's correct. as the 'cleaning lady' stated, mental illness affects many due to the lack of funding for those in need. therefore, it affects the ill individual, his family, and as a result, victims & their families. connect the dots...
i think people forget that we are not all the same.. and the ones that are suffering from mental illness can do things that are insane.. meaning not sane.. mental illness can be at a level where you are NOT sane.. so lets not be so black and white. not so technical annie in the word games . it IS insane to do what he has done.. and on some levels of mental illness you do things ..say things.. think things that are not normal.. not sane. so i can see the plea for insanity as long as its proven. as hard as it is to accept the fact that someone did something like this...you have to also understand he is a person too ..and im talking legit illness not some evil punk assed persons bullcrap trying to use the system of getting out of trouble. its a hard task in being able to understand/wrap your own mind around someones mental illness ... just a thought ..my own opinion ..im entitled just like anyone else to have one..
You're also quite insane, as evidenced by your rambling post. You need to be involuntarily committed, and like right now.
You can have your opinion the same as anyone else but i think that he planned every step including what his defense would be. The fact that his I.Q. is higher than the majority of the average citizen leads me to believe that he's capable of it.Save the mental baloney crap for people with a proven history of mental illness & send him to meet his maker. Why feed, cloth & take care of his medical needs for the next 50 years or until some politician feels sorry for him & pardons him in the future.
Paul I agree with You... He even made that face in his Booking Picture knowing people would see it so they can say, He even Looks Crazy. It's just One Big Joke to Him.
China just executed four drug dealers who participated in the death of 14 sailors. They were tried last year and executed today. They were not on death row for twenty years. It was certainly very quick.
Maybe we all should move to China? We would have to give up our guns?
perhaps China would be a finer place for you to reside than NC. I think you would fit in rather well with your knuckle-dragging mentality.
Burn baby, burn...
Bolt him!
It seems funny that Holmes insane-like behavior only strted after he was arrested and charged with murder!
Kent McMillen,Your statement is not true.his mother said he was diagnosed with a mental illness.When ti goes untreated a person can become psychotic and do all sorts of awful things. Everytime that I read a post such as yours I shake my head in wonder at the modern world that we live in and yet people know so little about mental illness.Ask anybody about heart disease,diabetes or cancer and they know somebody who has it or know something about those diseases.The brain is a part of the human body and is very complex.We all have a brain yet nobody knows anything about it or the diseases of the brain.There are treatments for mental illness but no cure.
just a cleaning lady, I stand corrected, and the blame lies with the system that didn't place Holmes on the "Can't posess a gun" list. This needs fixed, PRONTO!
Not to excuse Mr. Holmes he obviously deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law but what about Big Pharma? Every one of these mass shooters was on Big Pharma's mind altering pills. I know the general public is unaware that all the major drug companies have teams of lawyers that advise the prosecution in these mass murder cases. Why is that?
Why is that? Because your tinfoil hat is much, much, much too tight, and if you haven't already had a stroke, you soon will.
leftsux,Ok name the medicine that he was on and prove how you know it.You among others keep blaming big Pharma yet none of you personally know this man or have looked inside of his medicine cabinet.If you answer my question with the drug that he was on be careful and be 100% sure so that you don't slander a company that can turn around and sue you.
So how odd is it that James Holmes and Adam
Lanza dads are to testify in the libor scandal and the both have sons that are
in mass public shooters?
How odd that kittens born in an oven are not muffins.
Ha! I'll have to remember that one.
Insanity pleas work very well with Liberal Judges in Liberal States. 10 Years from now he will be released somewhere in Southern California or Chicago and blend right in with the masses
Get over yourself and look for a job.
Mommy and Daddy can't wipe your azz forever.
I am sure the overwhelming amount of Judges , Lawyers and people in the medical field all work for
Conservative corporations now. How can it be a liberal plea ?
If it weren't for the shoot first ask questions later mentality the laws would be more strict.
How many so called Conservatives have railroaded people ?
No one wants this guy alive. Too bad the cop didn't save a ton of money and shoot him down like the low trash piece of garbage he is. Maybe they should take away the nut doctors liscense for aiding and abedding this crime. What used to be a Hippocratic oath turned into a Hypocritic oath.
A liberal doesn't just get fired for falsifying over 100 DUI cases they get sued or thrown in jail.
A liberal doesn't just get fired for molesting women in public they get sued or thrown in jail.
Both events happens in the So called Conservative states.
I believe in the death penalty I voted for it. If someone kills with premeditation they should be killed
not given free room and board for life. I might have to re -think that because useless pukes and their railroad mentality.
I also think children should be taken care of. They have no choice. It isn't their fault their parents are stupid. Once you accept welfare you should be made to get an abortion so you don't bring more unwanted children in the world.
I believe people should be allowed to own guns. Just take better care of them.
I believe in abortion. There are way too many unwanted children in this country now.
Since I have Liberal and Conservative views what am I called ?
I could give a damn about Republicans or Democrats. Liberals or Conservatives.
It is all part of the BS blame game.
This nut is just another example of non recognition.
Not that "coincidence" does not happen but a wise person will always question "coincidence" and not blindly accept it as such.
?
It sounds like the best idea to make sure that James Holmes spends the rest of his life behind bars. We still don’t know why he did this. That is what I want the most of him is to know why he did it and who gave him the ideas and put him up to it. Someone or some people helped him come up with his shooting plans and booby-trapped apartment planning. Why isn’t there people saying they had looked at bomb plans with him before and guns. Most of his life is a mystery to everyone. It is such a bizarre and exact plan and it didn’t even work that good. He only killed 12 people and he didn’t even try to get his apartment bomb to work. What was the purpose of his plan? I would think of kill count as the main goal. But James Holmes didn’t and had some other goal and reason to do it.
Even if he gets the death penalty they won't kill him. He has done too much planning to get the insanity plea. The Insanity plea is for people who don't know what they are doing. He knew what he was doing and wanted to do. If you use the logic that anyone who kills is crazy everyone including gang bangers can get off. If he was seeing a psychiatrist why didn't they notify the authorities so he would not qualify for a gun permit. Again it was the mental health community that dropped the ball.
Isn't insanity, a lack of rationality? Upon hearing of his evil, he sounded very rational; he knew how to use his guns; he knew he couldn't walk past the ticket booth with guns; he knew to have a plan to get in through an exit; etc. Maybe the only irrationality, was to kill people (perfect strangers) who had nothing to do with his problems?
Edgar Barnes,Read up on brain diseases and you will answer your own questions.After you do that thank your lucky stars if you have no family members who suffers from mental illness.It is a living hell for family members trying to get treatment for them and hoping that they will take their med's so as to not end up on the streets pushing a shopping cart babbling to themselves.Or in the case of Holmes murdering innocent people because the voices in their head told them to do so.
Apparently you or a family member of yours is mentally ill since you feel the need to feverishly defend the illness.
Insanity should be the number one reason they should be executed!!!
They are a constant threat to society...no cure...drugs only mask their insanity.
HawkEyes.....You're the ONLY poster that speaks the TRUTH!! The government knows this too, but they don't want to admit it! SMH!
Hey you guys sound an awful lot like the Nazi's who supported eugenics. Why don't you guys start it off by offing yourselves first.
You don't get it daotien....SMH!!
Unless we execute this scumbag whether he's insane or not will determine the fate of our country! Even if he's insane there is no hope for him. So just end his suffering and execute him so we can move on to the next problem! Stupid Americans have no problem jailing people for marijuana! I can't see how it's even questionable to execute someone who kills children with no remorse! Just do it!!! I need to go smoke some herbs and chill out now! Just thinking about this situation leaves me with no hope for humanity! And I already lost my hope for our legal system and America itself! FML! lol
Massively cool mon put a bud on the coals an lite it up for America! F--ken stoners stay up there Bro!
KeepingItReal420,One mentally ill man does not determine the fate of our country.That is a really overboard statement to make.If you are that concerned then contact your representatives and tell them you want better mental health care.You want more mental health hospitals and oh by the way ,fix the Patients Rights Act.
Burn him at the stake, tie him to a pole and light it up. he will have plenty of time to think about what he did. this guy is not crazy he's proud, the only reason he's sad is he didn't get to finish the job.
Insanity should not be an excuse to let mass murderers off the hook. He needs to go regardless of his excuses.
Amen, Bro.
You all sound mentally ill to me. Maybe we should get rid of all of you while we are at it.
Sounds as if you may be the one who has mental illness in common with Holmes, daotien, with your attitude that "maybe we should get rid of all of you" -- just because our opinions differ from yours? Go take a walk and calm yourself.
YOU NEED to go with him daotien!! You have NOTHING to comment on! You better shut up while you're ahead....or are you? NOT!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Wait!!! HE planned that shooting for months and carried a CAR LOAD OF WEAPONS. HE can now say HE was INSANE and in 3 years HE can get a chance to DO IT ALL AGAIN!!
I say put me in a room alone with him for 2 minutes. Problem solved.
INSANE yes he is, you have to be, to do what he did, put him to death, only in America will we spend million on
this mass murderer let him sit in jail at a cost of $65.000+ a year for the rest of his life Government say we have no money cut back's in of housing , food stamps, government programs, health care SSD and SSI what ever . so we can keep a mass murderer in jail. only in America
Obama pleads insanity also, with good reason.
When did President Obama claim he was insane? I must have missed it.
Thought it was obvious.
That's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but Freedom is trying to say that Obama pled insanity which is an out and out lie.