FBI analysts testify about items found in James Holmes' apartment

By John Ingold​
The Denver Post
POSTED: 10/22/2013 12:46:06 PM MDT
UPDATED: 10/22/2013 01:19:11 PM MDT




CENTENNIAL — Defense attorneys in the Aurora theater shooting case say they need more time to file motions about the crucial psychiatric evaluation of the gunman.

In a new filing made public Tuesday, defense attorneys write they plan to file roughly six motions that deal with issues never before decided by a court in Colorado.

"These motions involve very important and complex legal issues, many of which pertain to the death penalty and mental illness and have never been filed or litigated before in the state of Colorado," the defense filing states.

Lawyers for James Holmes have admitted in a previous filing that Holmes is the man who killed 12 and wounded dozens more in an attack on an Aurora movie theater, but they say he was in the midst of a psychotic episode at the time.


Aurora police had evacauated the apartment building where James Holmes lived on July 22, 2012. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post file)


Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, meaning what doctors at the Colorado Mental Health Institute determined in the evaluation about his mental state at the time of the shootings looms large in the case. The results of the evaluation have not been released.

The filing was posted online as attorneys in the case argued over the qualifications of chemical experts prosecutors hope to call at trial.

Two FBI forensic examiners from the bureau's lab in Virginia testified Tuesday morning about evidence they analyzed that was taken from Holmes' apartment, where investigators found multiple bombs.

One of the examiners, Pamela Reynolds, said she examined six items but could not determine what was on them apart from some salt on two metal strips.

The other examiner, Andria Mehltretter, said she analyzed what it was that had glued two paint brushes together. Mehltretter determined the substance was pure polystyrene, a kind of plastic. She said she found that odd because no commercial glues are pure polystyrene. She said it is possible the substance came from plastic that had been melted down.

Tuesday's hearing is the next-to-last scheduled in the case in October, after a month of hearings where defense attorneys have challenged the admissibility of almost all the key evidence in the case.

But, while most hearings during the month have focused on statements that investigators heard or searches they conducted, Tuesday's hearing instead focuses on people who could testify at the upcoming trial, which is scheduled to start in February.

Specifically, Tuesday's hearing will answer whether bomb technicians that the prosecution may call as witnesses know their stuff well enough to be considered expert witnesses. The distinction is important because expert witnesses are allowed to state more than just the facts in their testimony — they can also give their opinion about what it all means.

In a motion challenging the testimony, defense attorneys say the judge must determine how reliable the experts' proposed testimony is before allowing it at trial. That determination is made during what is known as a Shreck hearing, after a Colorado Supreme Court case. In such hearings, the proposed expert witnesses usually provide a preview of their trial testimony.

"[The judge] should grant a pretrial hearing where the prosecution is required to put on evidence of the reliability of the scientific principles, the qualifications of the witnesses, and the usefulness of the testimony to the jury that is subject to the crucible of cross-examination," defense attorneys wrote in one filing related to their motion.

Prosecutors have not responded publicly to the defense' motion, instead filing their reply under seal.

In addition to dozens of counts of murder and attempted murder, Holmes is charged with one count of possession of an explosive device, stemming from the bombs police found in his apartment. At previous hearings, FBI special agent Garrett Gumbinner has testified that the explosives were organized into three separate systems that contained things like trip wires, fuses, bottles of gasoline, propane canisters, homemade napalm and thermite and other chemicals.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Holmes.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingold

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