Pool via Reuters, file

Accused Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes listens at his arraignment in Centennial, Colo., in March.

Lawyers for James Holmes, the man accused of shooting 12 people to death during a screening of a Batman movie in Colorado last summer, requested Monday to change their client’s plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Judge Carlos Samour said that Holmes’ defense team demonstrated “good cause” for the change, but added that he would not rule on making the adjustment official until a later date.

A Colorado circuit court judge had previously entered a standard not guilty plea on Holmes’ behalf after the defense said they were not prepared to make a decision. Holmes’ lawyers said in a court filing last week that they intended to mount an insanity defense.

Holmes appeared in court Monday with a thick, brown beard. He sat wordlessly and stared straight ahead as his attorney, Daniel King, told the judge that the defense has a mental illness diagnosis for the 25-year-old former medical student at University of Colorado-Denver.

“We now have an opinion from professionals,” King said, but he did not provide details.

Prosecutors said last month that they would seek the death penalty. District Attorney George Brauchler wrote that Holmes and his defense team both knew he was guilty and "both of them know that he was not criminally insane."

"It's my determination and my intention that in this case, for James Eagan Holmes, justice is death," Brauchler said at a hearing last month.

Besides the 12 gunned down, 58 people were wounded on July 20, 2012, at a midnight showing of the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Holmes has been charged with 166 counts of murder, attempted murder, and other offenses in connection with the massacre.

Slideshow: Shooting at Batman screening in Aurora, Colo.

Karl Gehring / The Denver Post

Twelve people were killed and 58 injured when a gunman opened fire during the premiere of a Batman movie.

Launch slideshow

Legal experts told The Denver Post that they expect Samour to allow the change, partly because denying it would raise the prospect of a lengthy appeal in the middle of the trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 3, 2014.

Another judge ruled in March that Holmes must agree to be drugged for a psychiatric exam at the Colorado State Mental Hospital if he wished to plead insanity.

Holmes would also be required to give up his right to remain silent and turn over the names, addresses and medical reports of any doctor or psychologist who has ever treated him for a psychiatric condition.

Judge Samour is expected to ask Holmes if he understands the conditions associated with his insanity plea at a hearing in late May.

Related: 

Colorado shooting suspect wants to use insanity defense 

This story was originally published on Mon May 13, 2013 8:47 AM EDT

Slideshow: Shooting at Batman screening in Aurora, Colo.

Karl Gehring / The Denver Post

Twelve people were killed and 58 injured when a gunman opened fire during the premiere of a Batman movie.

Launch slideshow

A newly released document describes gridlock and confusion after the massacre at a Colorado movie theater last summer — bleeding victims swarming emergency vehicles and a traffic jam caused by a crush of police, firefighters and paramedics.

The response was complicated by initial reports of two bombs in the theater and even by a nearby street-paving operation, according to the document, a review by the Aurora, Colo., fire department published Wednesday by The Denver Post.

Almost as many victims were taken to the hospital by police as by ambulances, and police had to drive some victims up a grassy hill behind the theater to get them help, the newspaper reported.

“There’s always lessons to be learned and lessons to be shared,” Aurora Fire Chief Mike Garcia told the newspaper. “I’m so proud of the response of our firefighters.”

Twelve people were killed and 58 injured on July 20, 2012, when a gunman stormed the midnight release of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises.” Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for James Holmes, for whom a judge has entered a not-guilty plea.

Barry Gutierrez / AP file

Tom Sullivan, center, embraces family members outside a high school where he had been searching for his son, Alex Sullivan, who was killed when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater last summer.

The fire report does not assign blame or even establish missteps in the emergency response. Instead, it describes the terrified disorder that gripped the Century 16 theater complex and its surroundings in the first hour after the shootings:

• Paving on South Sable Boulevard, the main road closest to the theater, cut traffic to one lane, and parking lots outside the theater were packed because it was opening night for an expected blockbuster film.
• 1,400 frantic moviegoers ran from the theater into the parking lot. “I encountered hundreds of people running and screaming for help,” one member of Aurora fire Battalion 1 said. “Many people appeared wounded. Others were just running.”
• The theater itself had only two entry points, and while the first fire engine to arrive used one of them, police quickly blocked both.
• Because of reports that someone was shooting, moviegoers got as far away as they could, and patients wound up in eight places, including a Dillard’s parking lot, some almost 2,000 feet away.

One lieutenant from Aurora fire’s Tower 8 who worked the Dillard’s scene told the review: “Several people were unsure if they had been shot since they were in shock and covered in blood.”

The Aurora police chief and other city officials declined to discuss the shooting, citing a court-imposed gag order. An outside review of the response is on hold because prosecutors worry it could impede their case against Holmes, the newspaper said.

Aurora police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday from NBC News. An Aurora fire spokeswoman declined comment to NBC News.

This story was originally published on Wed May 1, 2013 9:57 AM EDT

Ed Andrieski / AP

Fox television reporter Jana Winter, right, and her attorneys arrive at district court for a hearing for Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes in Centennial, Colo., on Wednesday, April 10, 2013.

A decision on whether a journalist will be sent to jail for not revealing her sources has been delayed until August, a Colorado judge ruled Wednesday.

Lawyers for theater massacre suspect James Holmes have been contending that Fox News reporter Jana Winter needs to reveal the sources of a story she broke last July revealing Holmes had sent a notebook to his psychiatrist outlining his plot.

Holmes is accused of slaughtering 12 people at a midnight showing of Batman in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater last July.

And despite an offer last month to plead guilty, Holmes' lawyers are arguing that the law enforcement sources Winter cited in her piece violated a gag order and may have jeopardized the defendant's right to a fair trial.

Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. has yet to decide whether Winter will need to testify.

On Wednesday, Samour said he must first know if the notebook will be a critical piece of evidence in the case before he can determine if Winter should be obligated to reveal her sources.

After consulting with the lawyers, the judge set the August 19 date, saying it will be likely known by then the role the notebook will play in the case.

Winter and her lawyers have indicated she will not reveal her sources if compelled. She could face jail time as a result.

On Monday, Samour wrote an opinion previewing today's ruling that sided with Winter's lawyers' arguments that that a decision should not be made until it is known whether the notebook will be a critical piece of evidence.

“The notebook may or may not be introduced, and its contents may or may not be of significance. Given these uncertainties, the record is inadequate," Samour wrote in his order.

Lawyers for Holmes may decide to argue that the notebook — which according to the Fox News report is filled with stick figures holding guns and shooting other stick figures — is protected by doctor-patient privilege.

And if his team uses mental-health as a defense, the notebook could became a vital part of the case. 

Winter told the court in a March affidavit that her ability to do her job has already been compromised as a result of the legal issues, and being forced to take the stand will would destroy her career.  

Multiple media organizations from around the country have come in to support Winter and any reporter's rights to not be legally obligated to reveal sources.

Doug Pensinger / Getty Images

Foxnews.com reporter Jana Winter returns to the court house after a midday recess to face Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester regarding evidence in the case of Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes at the Arapahoe County Justice Center on April 1, 2013 in Centennial, Colorado.

When reporter Jana Winter wrote an exclusive story last July on the contents of a notebook that movie-theater massacre suspect James Holmes sent to his psychiatrist, she likely did not think it had the potential to ruin her career or send her to jail.

The day Winter broke the story, her work dominated the news cycle, frequently cited by Fox News reporters and commentators discussing the slaughter of 12 people during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo.

Citing two law enforcement sources, Winter reported that Holmes sent a package to the psychiatrist, at the University of Colorado at Denver, with drawings that outlined his plans. The spiral-bound notebook’s pages were filled with stick figures holding guns and shooting other stick figures.

But the report quickly drew the ire of Holmes’ defense team, which argued that leaking the information violated a gag order limiting pretrial publicity.  

That is why Winter will be back in Colorado on Wednesday. A judge is deciding whether she should be forced to testify, a move that her lawyers say could destroy her reputation as a reporter and have devastating effects throughout journalism. Refusing to reveal her sources could land her in jail up to six months.

The hearing was supposed to be when Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. made his decision on whether Winter would testify. But Winter’s defense team won a minor victory earlier in the week, when Samour announced he would delay his ruling until he decides whether the notebook will be allowed as evidence in the first place.

“The notebook may or may not be introduced, and its contents may or may not be of significance. Given these uncertainties, the record is inadequate,” Samour wrote in his order Monday. 

Dori Ann Hanswirth, a lawyer with the firm Hogan Lovells, which is representing Winter, warned there is still uncertainty over the final ruling.

If Holmes’ defense team decides to make his mental health an issue, the notebook will likely be significant evidence — as will how its contents became public.

Hanswirth said that Samour, appointed to take over the case April 1, has shown hints that he believes Winter may be protected under the First Amendment. Still, regardless of the final ruling, damage has already been done, the lawyer said.

“The chilling effect of this is quite palpable. It has been very hard on my client, and it is a big tax on her and her employer that would be devoted to gathering news,” Hanswirth said. “It’s chilling.”

In an affidavit in March, Winter said sources were already less willing to talk to her. Some fear that simply speaking to her will get them wrapped up in the legal battle, she wrote.

“I rely on the trust of my sources every single day,” Winter told the court. “If I am forced to reveal the identities of persons whom I promised to shield from public exposure, simply put, I will be unable to function effectively in my profession, and my career will be over.”

Hanswirth said her client has the added pressure of defending not only herself but her profession. 

“She needs to stand up for her journalistic ethics and principles for all (reporters),” Hanswirth said.

In what is known as a shield law, Colorado provides some protection for reporters against being forced to reveal sources, but it is not nearly as strong as in other states, like New York, where Winter is based.

It is rare for journalists to face jail time for not revealing sources, and those cases frequently deal with national security. What may have been the highest-profile involved former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who served three months in prison for refusing to testify in a government inquiry of who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Miller has become one of Winter’s most ardent defenders and wrote a column praising her work.

“Those who believe in the importance of a free and independent press must support her. In a democracy, Jana Winter should not have to go to jail to protect her sources and do her job,” Miller wrote.

Others in the media have spoken out against making Winter testify, including affidavits to the court Tuesday from the Colorado Broadcasters Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

“The Court should be mindful of the ‘chilling effect’ subpoenas have on reporters,” wrote Bruce Brown, executive director of the committee.

He added: “Journalists often have difficulty convincing reluctant sources to come forward and speak freely and openly. ... The task is even more challenging, if not impossible, if the sources sense that reporters may be compelled to serve as witnesses against those whom they interview.”

Doug Pensinger / Getty Images file

Foxnews.com reporter Jana Winter returns to the court house after a midday recess to face Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester regarding evidence in the case of Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes at the Arapahoe County Justice Center on April 1, 2013 in Centennial, Colorado.

A journalist who could face jail time if she refuses to reveal the source of a report detailing the contents of a notebook Colorado massacre suspect James Holmes sent his psychiatrist won a temporary reprieve on Monday.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr., who is presiding over the Aurora movie theater shooting case, ruled that he will not make Fox News reporter Jana Winter testify until he decides if the notebook will be allowed as evidence in the first place.

The move reflects the argument made by Winter's defense attorneys that the testimony is not yet "ripe" for ruling.

"The notebook may or may not be introduced, and its contents may or may not be of significance. Given these uncertainties, the record is inadequate," Samour wrote in his order Monday. 

The judge said at a ruling last week that the New York-based journalist could face six months in jail if she refused to testify, according to the Denver Post. Though Winter must still attend a hearing Wednesday, there will be no final decision on whether she will be legally obligated to testify until a later date.

Winter angered prosecutors last July when she reported for FoxNews.com that two law enforcement sources revealed to her Holmes had sent a University of Colorado at Denver psychiatrist a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people."

Prosecutors maintained that leaking such information was in violation of a court gag order limiting pretrial publicity.

In December, 14 law enforcement agents testified regarding the leak, and all denied speaking to the media about the notebook or knowing anyone who could have.

Lawyers for Holmes, who is accused of killing 12 and injuring 58 during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Auroa, Colo., argued the notebook cannot be submitted as evidence because it is protected by doctor-patient privilege.

But if Holmes decides to use mental-health as a defense, the notebook will likely become significant evidence. In late March, Holmes defense team offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. Prosecutors, however, rejected that move as a publicity stunt, and are seeking the death penalty.

In a March affidavit obtained by NBC News, Winter said being forced to testify would ruin her career as a reporter and make it impossible to do her job as an investigative journalist. 

Her reputation in the field will be “irreparably tarnished,” she wrote.

"The documents and testimony Holmes seeks would violate my promises to my sources that I would keep their identities a secret. Futhermore, having to travel to Colorado to reveal my confidential sources for the article will cause me severe, irreparable hardship in a number of ways," Winter wrote to the court.

Along with her career, Winter said her life could be in danger if forced to appear in court.

She said she has been the subject of Internet threats from Holmes supporters, and even found a website containing personal photos of her family with “a scary degree of detail about our personal lives.”

“I cannot even begin to think about what might happen if I actually travel to Colorado at a time and place where these kinds of people will know where I am," Winter wrote.

Nevertheless, Winter will be in court on Wednesday.

Members of the media have come to Winter’s defense in voicing outrage over the prospects of making her testify. Colorado shield law does protect journalists from having to reveal sources, but there are circumstances under which reporters could be compelled to reveal their sources or face contempt of court charges.

"Courts have the right to enforce the confidentiality of investigations and that may in some cases require punishing leakers," National Press Club President Angela Greiling Keane said in a statement. "But attempting to get that information by subpoenaing reporters in order to learn their anonymous sources goes too far.”

Pool / Reuters file

Accused Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes listens at his arraignment in Centennial, Colorado in this file photo taken March 12, 2013.

A University of Colorado at Denver psychiatrist treating movie-theater massacre defendant James Holmes warned police of "homicidal statements" Holmes made one month before the Aurora, Colo., attack, according to a search warrant unsealed Thursday.

Dr. Lynn Fenton reported to University of Denver Police in June that Holmes posed a threat to the public through violent comments he made to her, according to the newly released court documents.

She also advised police that Holmes had stopped seeing her but had begun threatening her via text messages.

Holmes is accused of killing 12 and injuring 70 in a gruesome attack on a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. on July 20.

According to the document, University of Denver Police alerted Aurora, Colo. authorities of the received threat shortly after the attack.

The search warrant also reveals that on July 12, shortly before the shooting, Holmes sent Fenton a notebook that contained burned $20 bills.

The documents were released late Thursday after a judge ruled the arrest and search warrant affidavits could be unsealed following a request from various media organizations. 

District Judge Carlos Samour said the information had largely already been made public during court proceedings. But both prosecuting and defense attorneys objected.  

Holmes attorney's said they worried the release could hurt their client's chances at a fair trial. Prosecutors expressed concerns about the privacy of victims and witnesses.

Samour took over the case earlier this week after previous Judge William Sylvester stepped down, unable to commit the time necessary to preside over a death penalty case.  

On Monday, prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty, despite the defense's offer to have Holmes plead guilty and serve a life sentence. 

Prosecutors said Monday that they will seek the death penalty for James Holmes, the man accused of gunning down 12 people and wounding 70 at a Batman movie last summer in Colorado.

George Brauchler, the district attorney for Arapahoe County, said he made the decision after speaking with more than 800 victims and family members.

“It’s my determination and my intention that in this case, for James Eagan Holmes, justice is death,” he said at a hearing.

Brauchler had already rejected an offer from the defense to let Holmes plead guilty and serve a life sentence.

Judge William Sylvester of the Colorado circuit court entered a plea of not guilty for Holmes last month after his lawyers said they were not ready to plead. The judge left the door open for lawyers to mount an insanity defense.

Sylvester on Monday set Holmes’ trial for Feb. 3, 2014, and said it would last about four months. He handed the case to a new judge, Carlos Samour. The trial had originally been scheduled to begin in August.

“This is not an ordinary case. We ask the judge not to rush,” one of Holmes’ lawyers, Tamara Brady, said, answering prosecution claims that the defense has tried to delay the legal process. “This is the most important matter the court will ever hear.”

The two sides in the case fought in public last week. After the defense made its offer, Brauchler said in a filing that Holmes’ lawyers were only trying to generate sympathy for their client.

The only conclusion, the prosecutor wrote, “is that the defendant knows he is guilty, the defense attorneys know he is guilty and that both of them know that he was not criminally insane.”

Brauchler wrote an Op-Ed in The Denver Post over the weekend defending the death penalty. Colorado legislators have considered banning it. He did not name Holmes but wrote of capital punishment as an important tool of justice.

“Repealing the death penalty would result in acts similar to those in Newtown, Conn., or the acts of Tim McVeigh being punished no differently than a single murder of one gang member by another,” the prosecutor wrote. “Each murder after the first would be a freebie.”

Injection is the method for capital punishment in Colorado. The state has executed only one inmate since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in the United States in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. That execution was in 1997.

R.J. Sangosti / Pool

Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes listens at his arraignment March 12.

Holmes’ lawyers have said that jailers determined he was a danger to himself and needed a mental evaluation, and that he was held for several days in a psychiatric ward, sometimes in restraints.

He surrendered to police within minutes of the July 12 shooting rampage at a midnight screening of the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo., a suburb of Denver.

At his first court appearance, Holmes had stark, red-orange hair and wore a blank stare. He has since appeared more stable and natural-looking. He showed up in court last month with a bushy beard.

The hearing Monday was set to begin at 11 a.m. EDT. Legal observers have pointed out that the two sides could still reach a plea deal later, even as prosecutors seek to put Holmes to death.

NBC News producer John Boxley, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Mon Apr 1, 2013 8:17 AM EDT

A judge entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday for James Holmes, the man accused of massacring 12 people at a Batman movie last summer, and scheduled a one-month trial beginning in August.

Judge William Sylvester of Colorado circuit court entered the plea after lawyers for Holmes said they were not ready to plead. The judge left the door open for lawyers to mount an insanity defense later.

RJ Sangosti / Denver Post / Pool via AP

James Holmes, Aurora theater shooting suspect, sits in the courtroom during his arraignment in Centennial, Colo., on Tuesday, March 12, 2013.

Holmes walked into the courtroom in Centennial, Colo., and locked eyes with his parents, who were sitting in the second row of the courtroom. He did not show any emotion.

The judge set an Aug. 5 trial date. Prosecutors will announce by April 1 whether they will seek the death penalty.

The judge ruled Monday that Holmes must waive medical confidentiality and agree to be drugged for a psychiatric exam if he wants to claim that he is not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers had claimed that those provisions violated his constitutional rights.

Sylvester ruled that Holmes would have to turn over the names, addresses and medical reports of any doctor or psychologist who has treated him for a psychiatric condition.

The defense claimed in papers revealed last week that Holmes was hospitalized for several days last fall and required restraints.

Twelve people were killed and 70 injured in the July 20, 2012, shooting rampage at a midnight screening of the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo. Holmes surrendered to police within minutes of the attack.

At his first court appearances, Holmes had reddish-orange hair and a blank stare. At subsequent hearings, his hair has been more natural-looking and his demeanor more stable. He appeared Tuesday with a bushy beard.

Colorado lawmakers on Monday advanced a package of legislation aimed at reducing gun violence in the state.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:23 AM EDT