Trial Delayed For Colorado Theater Shooting Suspect James Holmes

Trial Delayed For Colorado Theater Shooting Suspect James Holmes

By Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times

The murder trial of James E. Holmes, charged in the Aurora, Colorado, theater massacre, will be delayed to allowed enough time for a second sanity review to be completed, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Holmes, 26, is accused of opening fire inside a movie theater showing “The Dark Knight Rises,” on July 20, 2012, killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

The trial had been scheduled to start Oct. 14, but mental health officials said they needed time to complete the sanity review. The evaluation had been due Aug. 15, but the state mental hospital said it would need until October 15, one day after jury selection was to begin, according to court documents.

Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. said he had no choice but to grant the extension.

No new trial date was set. The parties are expected to meet July 22 to try to decide on a new start date.

It is the second time in a year the trial date has been pushed back. Jury selection was scheduled to start in February, but that was delayed after prosecutors asked for the second sanity evaluation.

Under Colorado law, the trial jury will determine whether Holmes was legally insane, defined as unable to tell right from wrong because of a mental disease or defect.

Holmes’ lawyers have acknowledged he was the shooter but say he was in the grips of a psychotic episode.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Advertising

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump

Imagine this: You’re a clerk to a judge in a New York State court. You graduated from the Cardozo School of Law in 2010, and since then, you have worked as an associate in a New York law firm. For five years, you worked for the City of New York in its Special Litigation Unit handling law suits against the city. You have been the clerk to Judge Arthur Engoron since 2019, getting up in the morning and traveling by subway into Manhattan to your office in his chambers, or sitting beside him in court, advising him on cases, filings, motions – the constant flow of legal documents and questions that any judge in a big city court deals with constantly.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump Touts New Push To 'Repeal And Replace' Obamacare

The late Sen. John McCain gives thumbs down to Affordable Care Act repeal in July 2017

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

Donald Trump is once again living in the past, trying to resurrect a Republican political debacle that even the Freedom Caucus has abandoned: Obamacare repeal. “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives," he spewed on Truth Social on Saturday.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}