Thread: Colo. theater shooting trial expected to last months

Colo. theater shooting trial expected to last months

Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY 2:25 p.m. EDT May 29, 2014


(Photo: Andy Cross, AP)

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The death-penalty case against accused movie theater shooter James Holmes continues inching forward to trial this fall.

In a court hearing Thursday, defense lawyers and prosecutors discussed logistics for the trial, which is expected to last months.

Judge Carlos Samour Jr. of Colorado's 18th Judicial District Court expects to call about 6,000 prospective jurors starting in October to seat a 12-member jury that can objectively weigh Holmes' guilt and whether he should be executed if convicted.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the face of 12 murder counts from the July 2012 shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., a Denver suburb. Altogether, he faces more than 160 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges.

"It's not like we do this type of case every day," Samour said Thursday in discussing the logistics. "I think it's a first for all of us."

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Holmes did not speak during the two-hour hearing at the Arapahoe County Courthouse here. He occasionally swiveled his chair from side to side, a heavy red beard covering his face, his hair plastered down on his head. He barely seemed to acknowledge anyone in the courtroom, and his shackled hands rested on his lap.

Lawyers for both sides are under a strict gag order and repeatedly have asked to keep much of the process closed to public scrutiny. Holmes already has undergone at least one mental-health exam at a state hospital. The results of that report are also being kept secret.

In this case, most of the jury selection process, normally open to anyone to watch, may be kept secret for months. Both sides argue it will last so long that media coverage could taint prospective jurors who have been summoned to court but not yet been screened. Lawyers for media organizations have filed an objection, and Samour is considering it.

The bulk of Thursday's hearing focused on how lawyers will screen prospective jurors, how long court hearings will last each day and even what kinds of folders will be used to hold information given to the jury pool. Samour already has rejected a defense request to move the trial elsewhere over concerns that Holmes can't get a fair trial because intense media coverage.

Opening statements are expected to begin in February. Holmes is due back in court Sept. 5 for a pre-trial readiness conference.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...aring/9724757/

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