12 Dead 58 Wounded at Premiere of Dark Knight

[Little Texan]

Dude resembles Sideshow Bob more than the Joker.

[jhale667]

Scumbag is officially charged..

They've doubled the murder charges against him...

Colorado movie theater gunman charged with multiple counts of murder

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/formal-charges-expected-today-suspected-colorado-movie-theater-101958196.html

Prosecutors on Monday charged James Holmes with two dozen counts of first-degree murder and slew of other violent offenses related to the recent deadly rampage at a Colorado movie theater.

Holmes, who appeared in court with the same cartoonish orange-red hair he had at the time of the shooting, said only one word during Monday's hearing.

"Yes," he answered when asked by the judge if he agreed to waive his right to a preliminary hearing in the next 35 days.

Police say Holmes, 24, blasted his way through a packed movie house during a premiere showing of Batman "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora.

Twelve victims died in the attack, 58 others were wounded. The melee is among the worst mass shootings in modern-day American history. Prosecutors filed a total of 142 criminal charges against him, including 116 counts of attempted murder. The 24 murder charges reflect dual charges (premeditated and without remorse) by the prosecutors.

During Monday's hearing, Judge William Sylvester carefully explained to Holmes that the charges carry a minimum sentence of life in prison and a maximum of death. The district attorney near Denver has not announced if she will seek the death penalty against the alleged gunman.

Holmes was clad in tactical gear and possessed four guns and a stockpile of ammo when he surrendered to officers behind the cinema shortly after the July 20th shooting spree. He did not resist arrest, but investigators have since described the former neuroscience doctoral student as uncooperative.

Police say Holmes legally purchased the guns in May and June, but allegedly began stockpiling ammo and other gear four months ago.

"This is not a whodunit. ... The only possible defense is insanity," Craig Silverman, a former chief deputy district attorney in Denver, told the Associated Press.

At Monday's hearing, attorneys are also expected to argue a defense motion to find out who leaked information to the news media about a package the former grad student allegedly sent to his psychiatrist at the University of Colorado Denver.

Authorities seized the package July 23, three days after the shooting, after finding it in the mail room of the medical campus where Holmes studied. Several media outlets reported that it contained a notebook with descriptions of an attack, but Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers said in court papers that the parcel hadn't been opened by the time the "inaccurate" news reports appeared.

On Friday, court papers revealed that Holmes was seeing a psychiatrist at the university. But they did not say how long he was seeing Dr. Lynne Fenton and if it was for a mental illness or another problem.

The University of Colorado's website identified Fenton as the medical director of the school's Student Mental Health Services. An online resume listed schizophrenia as one of her research interests and stated that she sees 10 to 15 graduate students a week for medication and psychotherapy, as well as 5 to 10 patients in her general practice as a psychiatrist, the Associated Press reported.

Under Colorado law, defendants are not legally liable for their acts if their minds are so "diseased" that they cannot distinguish between right and wrong. However, the law warns that "care should be taken not to confuse such mental disease or defect with moral obliquity, mental depravity, or passion growing out of anger, revenge, hatred, or other motives, and kindred evil conditions."

Experts say there are two levels of insanity defenses. Holmes' public defenders could argue he is not mentally competent to stand trial, like Jared Loughner, who killed six people when he shot Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson in 2011. Loughner has pleaded not guilty to charges in the shooting. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is undergoing treatment at a Missouri prison facility in a bid to make him mentally fit to stand trial.

If Holmes' attorneys cannot convince the court that he is mentally incompetent, and he is convicted, they can try to stave off a possible death penalty by arguing he is mentally ill.

Sam Kamin, a law professor at the University of Denver, said there is "pronounced" evidence that the attack was premeditated, which would seem to make an insanity defense difficult. "But," he told the Associated Press, "the things that we don't know are what this case is going to hinge on, and that's his mental state."

[chefcraig]

I'm not being a smart-ass here, but how this jerk can get charged for 24 accounts of murder when he in fact killed 12? I get the premeditated and without remorse part, but wouldn't this open a door for the defence?

[Nitro Express]

Dude resembles Sideshow Bob more than the Joker.

I was thinking Ralf Mouth from Happy Days.

[jhale667]

I'm not being a smart-ass here, but how this jerk can get charged for 24 accounts of murder when he in fact killed 12? I get the premeditated and without remorse part, but wouldn't this open a door for the defence?

I wondered about that too...

[Nitro Express]

All it means is the lawyers will make more money.

[MUSICMANN]

What i find to be just as bad, is that this crazy fuckers psychiatrist is not gonna be charged. He was her patient for some time now and she knew that he was ape shit looney. She will hide behind her doctor/patient confidentiality code and go on to protecting some other fuck nut. Couple this with the F.B.I not taking any action because it was politically incorrect on the mad Islamic twit who killed those people at Ft. Hood and it becomes very easy to see that it's not a gun issue but more of people knowing private things about a person and failing to react and expose them before they act out.

[LoungeMachine]

All it means is the lawyers will make more money.

The PD's and the Prosecutors are on salary.

It's to give the jury more options

[jhale667]

The PD's and the Prosecutors are on salary.

It's to give the jury more options

The dude is probably looking at the death penalty... and since it was clearly premeditated, the insanity defense is going to be a hard sell....

[LoungeMachine]

The dude is probably looking at the death penalty... and since it was clearly premeditated, the insanity defense is going to be a hard sell....

They'll seek it, no doubt. But he prob won't get it.

I'm anti-death penalty. I'd rather make him sit in a cell for the next 40 years having to live with the guilt.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

They'll seek it, no doubt. But he prob won't get it.

I'm anti-death penalty. I'd rather make him sit in a cell for the next 40 years having to live with the guilt.

very expensive

[ELVIS]

It's never going to trial just like Jared lee loughner...

They will lock this guy away in a mental hospital so none of the conspiracy has the chance to see the light of day in court...

[chefcraig]

I'm anti-death penalty. I'd rather make him sit in a cell for the next 40 years having to live with the guilt.

I'm anti-death penalty as well, yet ironically enough, having said that, I have no qualms whatsoever regarding prison shanking for certain offenders.

[DLR Bridge]

They'll seek it, no doubt. But he prob won't get it.

I'm anti-death penalty. I'd rather make him sit in a cell for the next 40 years having to live with the guilt.

You'd really rather we all pay for this guys warm bed and 3 square meals a day for 40 years? I know lethal injection probably costs a pretty penny, but this is a case where it would be money well spent in my book.

[LoungeMachine]

You'd really rather we all pay for this guys warm bed and 3 square meals a day for 40 years? I know lethal injection probably costs a pretty penny, but this is a case where it would be money well spent in my book.

Yes, I would.

Punishment should never come down to cost, in my opinion.