http://www.businessinsider.com/james-holmes-possible-insanity-defense-2013-1
Mass murder suspect James Holmes turned his apartment into a death trap before allegedly killing a dozen people in a crowded movie theater, prosecutors asserted this week during a preliminary hearing.
seen by the world. They also provided fodder for the prosecutors who want to try him for murder.
Evidence showed his AR-15-style rifle jammed.
http://blogs.denverpost.com/crime/2013/01/08/7-notes-day-1-aurora-theater-shooting-preliminary-hearing/4554/
James Holmes' Lawyers Hardly Spoke During His Hearing But Made These Two Revealing Statements
Mass murder suspect James Holmes turned his apartment into a death trap before allegedly killing a dozen people in a crowded movie theater, prosecutors asserted this week during a preliminary hearing.
During that hearing, police officers recounted the truly horrifying scene they encountered at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
While such emotional details were being released to an already enraged public, lawyers for the 25-year-old murder suspect hardly made a peep.
Daniel King, a public defender representing Holmes, asked only two rather curious questions during the first two days of Holmes' preliminary hearing.
"The most significant moment in the preliminary hearing may have also been its most oddly out of place," The Denver Post's John Ingold wrote after Monday's hearing.
When prosecutors called two doctors from the Arapahoe County coroner's office to testify Monday, Holmes' attorneys didn't question the first doctor and asked only one potentially revealing question of the other.
King asked Arapahoe County Coroner Michael Dobersen whether the 12 shooting victims' injuries revealed anything about the shooter's state of mind.
“You’re not drawing any conclusions about the mental state of the perpetrators by your autopsy, are you?” King asked, according to Ingold.
Dobersen, who seemed confused by the question, said he wasn't making any judgements about the shooter's state of mind.
Similarly, one of the only questions King asked during Tuesday's hearing also focused on mental illness.
During Tuesday's hearing, ATF agent Steven Beggs testified about the small arsenal Holmes accumulated in the months leading up to the shooting.
Instead of asking questions about how the ATF could prove Holmes actually made the purchases or some other inquiry that could have casted doubt on his client's motive, King again focused on Holmes' mental illness.
"Is there any process in place to screen out whether a severely mentally ill person is purchasing these items?" King asked Beggs, according to Ingold.
Beggs reportedly said there wasn't any such screen in place.
The defense attorneys presented no arguments during the final day of the preliminary hearing.
While the defense initially planned to call witnesses who could discuss Holmes' mental state, it apparently changed its mind.
"Absent a complete waiver of privilege, our ability to present such evidence would be limited," King said, according to Ingold.
King's questions indicate that Holmes' attorneys will pursue an insanity defense, which as we've reported earlier, just might work.
Colorado requires the prosecution to prove the defendant's sanity in order to disprove an insanity claim. In most states, it's the other way around and the defense has to prove their client is insane.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_22343610/james-holmes-self-portraits-shown-at-preliminary-hearing?source=pkg
CENTENNIAL — Black contact lenses darkened James Holmes' eyes, and his Kool-Aid red curls spilled from beneath a black skullcap. His tongue jutted toward his camera phone as he snapped a photo.
Six hours later, bloody mayhem erupted in Century Aurora 16's Theater 9.
Images downloaded from Holmes' phone — him flashing a toothy grin with a Glock handgun in the frame, the hoard of weaponry and gear that police later found at the theater displayed tidily on his bed — were displayed during the third and final day of Holmes' preliminary hearing.
The five self-portraits, among the dozen images shown Wednesday in court, stood out as glimpses, perhaps, of how Holmes saw himself or wanted to be
"They go to identity, deliberation and to extreme indifference," Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson told the judge, who overruled a defense objection to the portraits being shown.
The preliminary hearing ended two days ahead of schedule. Now 18th Judicial District Court Chief Judge William Sylvester must decide whether there's enough evidence against Holmes to both proceed to trial and to hold him without bond until the case is resolved.
Sylvester has scheduled a court date for Friday, which will be either a status hearing or an arraignment, depending on his decision. Holmes would have to enter a plea at an arraignment, after which prosecutors would have 63 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty.
Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others, either with gunfire or by sending them fleeing from the theater during the July 20 attack.
Prosecutors spent the week giving names to those numbers and painting vivid images of how those people were killed or injured through sometimes emotional testimony from the Aurora police officers investigating the massacre.
The pictures shown Wednesday strengthen the state's assertion that Holmes carefully planned his attack in order to do the most damage possible, prosecutors say.
Blurry cellphone photos of theater interiors, back doors, hinges and other details were recovered from Holmes' cellphone.
Using time-stamp data embedded in the pictures and cell-tower history data, Sgt. Matthew Fyles said, investigators determined the images were taken at the theater complex on three separate scouting trips.
Holmes first visited the theater June 29 and then again July 5 and 11, Fyles said.
Prosecution evidence alleged Holmes kept the exit door to Theater 9 ajar with a modified clamp typically used to hold a tablecloth to a picnic table.
The earliest self-portrait — one of Holmes clad in "a majority of the tactical, ballistic gear" he later wore at the theater, with an AR-15-style rifle slung over his shoulder — was taken July 5, Fyles said.
Other photos showed bomb components displayed in his apartment.
Holmes apparently never published the images online or, as Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui did, sent them to media outlets.
Pearson pointed out Holmes chose a difficult-to-escape location that would be packed with people. Earlier testimony alleged he bought 6,295 rounds in the months leading up to the shooting.
"He went into a crowded theater. ... He deployed tear gas in the theater and began shooting indiscriminately," Pearson said.
Thomas Teves and his wife, Caren, walk out of court Wednesday in Centennial, where the third day of preliminary hearings took place in the case of shooting suspect James Holmes. The Teveses' son Alexander was killed in the July 20 theater massacre. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)
"Had it not, he would have shot more people," she said. "He certainly had the ammunition to do so."
The defense, on the other hand, said very little Wednesday.
Previously expected to call witnesses in Holmes' defense, public defender and Chief Trial Deputy Daniel King had "a change of position" in part because raising issues of mental health would waive doctor-patient confidentiality related to Holmes' psychiatric treatment.
"This is neither the proper venue nor the time for us to put on a show or put on some kind of truncated defense," King added. "This is not a trial."
It's not unusual for the defense to forgo presenting evidence that might tip its hand at preliminary hearings where the judge, by law, must interpret evidence in the light most favorable to prosecutors, said Dan Recht, an experienced Denver criminal defense attorney.
The photos of the theater and of Holmes just before the shooting, Recht said, could prove "a double-edged sword," showing either his callous indifference or his "severe oddness," depending on who's presenting the evidence.
"One can be insane and have engaged in very detailed plans," Recht said. "If he was living in a fantasy world, he could make plans — but in an insane fashion."
Chantel Blunk, whose husband, Jon, died from gunshots to his back and head, has attended every day of the court proceedings.
For her, lack of evidence supporting Holmes' side was a comfort.
"I was happy to see the defense had nothing to argue. It's obvious they have nothing, and there's no point in having a trial," Blunk said. "What happens to him, I don't care. I don't care about his future or his past."
http://blogs.denverpost.com/crime/2013/01/09/7-notes-day-2-aurora-theater-shooting-preliminary-hearing/4567/
Posted January 9, 2013, 6:24 am MT
7 notes from Day 2 of the Aurora theater shooting preliminary hearing
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
Thomas Teves, left, and his wife, Caren Teves, arrive for court on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, in Centennial.
Tuesday’s portion of the preliminary hearing in the murder case against Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes produced descriptions of the fiendishly devised explosive systems investigators say they found inside Holmes’ apartment and heart-breaking moments in two of the 911 calls to come from the theater the night of the shooting.
Here are seven more notes from Tuesday’s proceedings, ahead of what could be the hearing’s last day on Wednesday.
1. Twist of fate.
Though a detective testified Monday that Holmes bought his ticket to the new Batman movie online on July 8, Aurora Det. Craig Appel, the lead detective on the case, said Tuesday Holmes bought the ticket the night of July 7. For whatever reason, Appel said, Holmes’ ticket printout errantly showed the purchase date as July 8.
That’s not all that was inconsistent with the ticket and Holmes’ actions. Holmes’ ticket, Appel said, was actually purchased for theater 8. Holmes instead went into theater 9 next door, where the movie started about five minutes later that night. All of those killed and 55 of the 58 people wounded by gunfire on July 20 were in theater 9.
Appel did not say if police have any explanation for the switch in theaters.
Later on Tuesday, Sgt. Matthew Fyles — Appel’s supervisor — said investigators have never been able to put a precise number on the people in theater 9 or theater 8, he said. Theater 9 held a little over 400 people. Fyles said detectives believe between 370 and 380 people were in theater 9 when the shooting began — and an equal number were next door in theater 8.
But Fyles said it is likely some of those present haven’t come forward to police, preventing investigators from arriving at a precise figure.
2. Sinister shopping spree.
Between May 10 and July 14, detectives believe Holmes made 16 separate purchases online and at stores in the metro area to assemble the guns, ammunition and explosives he is accused of using to carry out the attack.
As testified to by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Steven Beggs, the timeline looked like this:
May 10: Two tear gas canisters, bought online.May 22: A .40-caliber Glock handgun, bought at Gander Mountain outdoor store in Aurora.May 28: A Remington shotgun, and shotgun and handgun ammunition, bought at Bass Pro Shops in Denver.June 6: Handcuffs and a military battle first aid kit, bought online.June 7: A Smith and Wesson AR-15 style rifle, plus three 30-round ammunition magazines, bought at Gander Mountain.June 13: A 100-round drum magazine for the rifle, plus more 30-round magazines, a laser sight for the handgun and two weapons slings, bought online.June 17: 225 tactical targets, plus a target stand, bought online.June 19: A laser sight for the rifle, more ammunition magazines and a holster for the handgun, bought online.June 28: Over 2,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, bought online.Separately on June 28: A ballistic helmet, bought online.July 1: Several packages of “snap caps” — blank ammunition often used for training drills — bought at Gander Mountain.July 2: Ballistic leggings, brought online.Separately on July 2: Body armor for the neck, torso and groin, bought online.July 3: Pyrotechnic parts, including 6-inch fireworks shells, fuses and a “launch control” box, all bought online.July 6: Another .40-caliber Glock handgun, along with 200 rounds of rifle ammunition, 4 pounds of smokeless powder and gun-cleaning supplies, bought at Bass Pro Shops.July 14: Chemicals and materials used to make improvised explosives, bought at a store in Denver.Between May and July, Holmes bought four guns and 6,295 rounds of ammunition — including 2,600 rounds for the handgun, 325 shells for the shotgun and 3,370 rounds for the rifle, Beggs testified.3. To the second.Though billed as a midnight showing, the new Batman film’s showtime inside theater 9 was actually 12:05 a.m. Aurora Det. Randy Hansen testified Tuesday he recreated the next few minutes to the second.At precisely 12:05, the theater played for patrons a commercial that lasted 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Next came 13 minutes and 29 seconds worth of movie previews. That means the actual film started at 12:20:38 a.m. on July 20, Hansen said.The first 911 call came in at 12:38:37, Hansen said, meaning the shooting began roughly 18 minutes into the movie.4. Widespread harm.Investigators believe the shooter fired his shotgun inside the theater only six times — that’s how many spent shotgun shells were found on the theater’s floor. But, as Fyles recounted the injuries of each of the 82 victims — killed and injured — named in the charges, it became clear how much damage those six shots did.At least three of the slain victims and 22 of the wounded were hit with shotgun pellets, according to Fyles’ testimony. That means, of the 70 people hit with gunfire in the theater, more than a third of them were shot during the six blasts. (Twelve of the victims named in the charges suffered non-gunshot injuries in fleeing the theater — such as a broken ankle or a head injury.)Fyles said investigators found 65 .223-caliber shell casings, used in the rifle, in the theater and five shell casings from bullets fired from the handgun. That’s 76 shots total.There was the potential for many more. Investigators also found 204 live rounds of rifle ammunition and several full handgun magazines in the theater. There were indications, detectives said, that at least one of the shooter’s weapons jammed, preventing him from firing more.5. A difficult list.Perhaps the toughest task of the preliminary hearing fell to Fyles on Tuesday afternoon, when he began reading through a list of victims and recounting their injuries.The recitation was necessary because prosecutors need to provide evidence specific to each count — and each victim — in order for Holmes to potentially face trial on that count. And, so, guided by questioning from prosecutor Karen Pearson, Fyles started alphabetically with Petra Anderson and proceeded through the 70 names of those injured, followed by the 12 names of the slain victims.At first, he matter-of-factly read from a chart he prepared of every victim and their injuries. But, as the list grew longer, Fyles grew more somber.Describing Ashley Moser’s injuries — she was paralyzed, suffered a miscarriage and lost her 6-year-old daughter in the shooting — Fyles’ voice caught. For the next victim, Stefan Moton, who is now a quadriplegic, Fyles found it difficult to summon words. The judge called a recess.After the break, Fyles continued to struggle with the weight of the list — each name, each injury, adding further to the tragic enormity of the shootings: Dion Roseborough, shot in the shoulder, underwent emergency surgery. Carey Rottman, shot in the upper right leg. Lucas Smith, hit in the pelvis and thigh. Heather Snyder, shot in the arm and the leg, lost a finger.Fyles noted later that many of the shots fired were steel-core rounds, designed to tear through whatever they hit and keep going. Increasingly, Pearson took on the task of reading the injuries, asking Fyles only a yes-or-no question to confirm the assessment.By the end of the list, Fyles had regained his matter-of-fact voice. But, after finishing with the last name, his relief was practically tangible.6. Mysteries solved.Two lingering questions from Monday’s hearing found resolution during testimony Tuesday.On Monday, the first witness, Aurora office Jason Oviatt, testified that he heard a voice on the night of the shooting call out from the shadows by a Dumpster as he prepared to search a handcuffed James Holmes.“Are you guys cops?” the voice — that of a girl who had hidden by the Dumpster after escaping the shooting — asked.On Tuesday, Det. Todd Fredericksen provided a name for that voice. She was Jansen Young.Likewise, on Monday, Aurora officer Justin Grizzle recounted how he drove a gravely injured Ashley Moser and a man to the hospital in his patrol car after the shooting. Grizzle’s testimony implied that the man was Moser’s husband, and Grizzle told how the man tried to leap from the car because he said he needed to get back to the theater to find his daughter.Because Grizzle never learned the man’s name, though, it was unclear what relationship he actually had to Moser or Moser’s daughter, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, who was killed.On Tuesday, Fyles said the man in Grizzle’s car was Jamison Toews. He was Moser’s boyfriend — and the father of her unborn child — but he was not Veronica’s father. He grieved just the same, though.7. Mysteries remain.Tuesday’s testimony revealed one crucial, previously unknown detail: Investigators interviewed Holmes at least once following the shooting and, according to the testimony, Holmes told them incriminating information.FBI agent Garrett Gumbinner said he and Appel interviewed Holmes on the afternoon of July 20. Gumbinner said detectives wanted to find out more about the explosives found in Holmes’ apartment in order to safely defuse them. He said, to coax Holmes into talking, they told Holmes they would only ask him about the items in the apartment and nothing about what happened inside the theater.But was that the only time detectives interviewed Holmes that day?Appel testified Tuesday he was called to police headquarters early July 20 to interview Holmes. But prosecutors never asked Appel whether he actually spoke with Holmes or watched as other investigators did. The only thing Appel said Tuesday about his time at headquarters that morning was elicited on cross-examination — when he testified that he had officers remove Holmes’ handcuffs while Holmes sat in an interrogation room.The prosecution’s side of the preliminary hearing is expected to wrap up Wednesday with the last of Fyles’ testimony, so it is possible this question will be answered. (Though, it is also possible testimony about an early interview with Holmes is tied up in the kind of fight over Miranda warnings and suppressed statements that saw attorneys for both sides argue at the judge’s bench for close to five minutes Tuesday before Gumbinner could testify about the afternoon interview.)But it may just remain another unknown as the case moves forward, an echo to the heart-breaking mystery hanging over it all: Why?
http://blogs.denverpost.com/crime/2013/01/08/7-notes-day-1-aurora-theater-shooting-preliminary-hearing/4554/
Posted January 8, 2013, 6:30 am MT
7 notes from Day 1 of the Aurora theater shooting preliminary hearing
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
Aurora Police Officer Justin Grizzle walks back to the court room on Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, in Centennial.
Monday’s opening day of the preliminary hearing in the Aurora theater shooting murder case offered numerous new insights into the tragedy and the evidence against James Holmes. In this morning’s Denver Post, we have two stories — one about the investigation details revealed in court Monday and another about the heroic actions of police officers the morning of the shooting. (Click here to read an extended version of that story.)
But, after nearly six hours of testimony Monday, there were details that did not find their way into one of those two stories. Here are seven notes from Day 1 of the preliminary hearing:
1. A curious cross-examination.
The most significant moment in the preliminary hearing may have also been its most oddly out of place. Prosecutors Monday called two doctors from the Arapahoe County coroner’s office to testify about the wounds suffered by the victims slain in the shooting. After the first doctor testified, Holmes’ attorneys did not ask any questions.
In many instances throughout the day, the detectives and investigators testifying on behalf of the prosecution left little for the defense team to do. Those witnesses were there to describe the scene; they did not say anything that directly implicated Holmes. And, thus, their testimony meant there was little for the defense to rebut.
So it was somewhat unexpected when, after prosecutors finished questioning Arapahoe County Coroner Michael Dobersen, defense attorney Daniel King rose to ask some questions of his own. Where he went with his questions was even more unexpected.
King asked how long the autopsies took — they lasted between an hour and a half and over four hours. He asked about Dobersen’s experience as a coroner — Dobersen is one of the most respected forensic pathologists in the nation.
And then King asked whether anything about the wounds Dobersen observed could speak to the state of mind of the person who inflicted them. What kinds of stories do bullet holes tell? Dobersen seemed puzzled.
“You’re not drawing any conclusions about the mental state of the perpetrators by your autopsy, are you?” King asked.
“No,” Dobersen responded.
It was the best signal yet that the defense likely intends to offer an insanity defense in the case. Its odd placement in the hearing only made it stand out that much more clearly.
2. Handing off.
Perhaps the second most significant moment came before the hearing even began, when a man in a dark suit walked into the courtroom, stepped in front of the railing that separates the audience from the participants and sat next to a woman in a dark suit on the bench behind the prosecution table.
George Brauchler didn’t appear to say anything beyond pleasantries when he sat down next to Carol Chambers, but the moment’s symbolism was tangible. Monday’s hearing ended an hour earlier than normal — at 4 p.m. instead of 5 — so that Brauchler could be sworn in as the new Arapahoe County District Attorney, replacing Chambers, who was term-limited.
The role change means Brauchler will be the person to ultimately decide whether to seek the death penalty or to strike a plea bargain. He will be the person responsible for seeking justice on behalf of the victims and victims’ family members who sat behind him when the hearing opened.
For a first day, Monday was not an easy start.
3. “He immediately put his hands up.”
Monday’s testimony reiterated that Holmes was outfitted as if for a battle when police put him in handcuffs the morning of July 20. He wore a helmet and gas mask, a bullet-resistant vest, a throat protector, a groin protector and armored leggings. He had at least one knife on him, Aurora officer Jason Oviatt testified. And when Oviatt ordered Holmes to the ground and then searched him, at least two gun magazines fell from his pockets.
Yet several officers described a weird passivity to Holmes following the shooting. Oviatt said Holmes surrendered as soon as Oviatt pointed his gun at Holmes.
“He immediately put his hands up,” Oviatt said.
And, once in handcuffs, Holmes was unfailingly — even, bizarrely — acquiescent. He never tried to reach for a gun or run away or struggle with officers.
“He was completely compliant,” Oviatt said. “There wasn’t even a normal tension in him.”
4. Explosive statements.
There was conflicting testimony about whether Holmes told officers about explosives in his apartment after being prompted by a question or whether he volunteered it. But there is little question that officers did not have to twist his arm for the information.
Holmes — according to the officers’ testimony — seemed almost eager to tell police about the bombs. Police said Holmes told them the information shortly after they took him into custody.
“He used the term ‘improvised explosive devices,’” officer Aaron Blue said.
“He just wanted to give me the information,” Blue said. “He just told me.”
There was at least one thing he didn’t tell officers — at least not the several who testified Monday. No officer testified Monday that they heard Holmes call himself the Joker, contrary to widespread reports.
5. Blank stare
Because the question always comes up, this is how James Holmes looked in court Monday: like he wasn’t there.
Holmes showed no expression — staring ahead glassy-eyed — as officers recounted his arrest. He showed no emotion when officers described their frantic efforts to save the lives of wounded victims or when the coroner’s pathologist described how the shooter fired four bullets into a 6-year-old girl. He showed no emotion when two police officers choked back tears on the witness stand. And he showed no emotion when security videotapes from the theater showed him walking around the theater lobby the night of the shooting wearing long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and a beanie stocking cap.
From my vantage point in the second row in the audience, it was difficult to tell whether he was even keeping his eyes open at times.
6. “A bad day.”
The same could not be said for the victims and their families watching in the courtroom. Instead, they seemed to wear the day’s testimony on their faces. At times, some victims left during the hearing, unable to listen to any more. Others sniffed away tears or folded their arms and clinched their faces during difficult testimony.
“I would at least like to know what happened and get some details so we can understand,” Tom Teves, whose son, Alex, was killed in the shooting,told 9News.
It was a difficult decision just to come to the hearing. Sam Soudani said he came because his daughter, Farrah, who was seriously wounded in the attack, wanted to come. They listened as a detective recounted how Farrah was shot.
“Because she decided to come, I wanted to hold her hand,” Sam Soudani told 9News. “No more, no less. I personally, honest, I don’t want to be here.”
Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, the mother and stepfather of slain victim Jessica Ghawi, felt the same way. They were at a conference in North Carolina on Monday. But, Lonnie Phillips said in a statement, they wouldn’t have attended even if they could.
“It’s been a bad day,” Lonnie Phillips said in a statement. “It’s too much emotional turmoil. My wife cried just reading a text about it.”
7. A grim catalog
Monday’s portion of the hearing closed with a detective on the stand going name-by-name through a list of victims he interviewed, describing how they were injured, where they were sitting in the theater and what they saw.
Earlier in the afternoon Monday, a different detective pointed on a picture of Theater 9 to exactly where each slain victim was found. Three were in row 8, the first row behind the aisle that separated the seats in the theater at ground level and those elevated stadium-style. One victim each was found in row 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, and 18. And one victim was found lying beside the stairs leading to the top of the seats.
The testimony made for difficult listening: The tragedy condensed into a sterile catalog of facts. And it will likely continue on Tuesday.
Part of the prosecution’s burden in the preliminary hearing is convincing the judge there is enough evidence to move forward in every single count. Holmes faces 166 counts in total — including two counts of murder for each of the 12 slain victims and two counts of attempted murder for each of 70 people wounded or shot at in the attack.
The detective testifying Monday afternoon made it through the details for 12 wounded victims. There are still 58 to go.
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