Mass Shooting Inside Aurora, Colorado Theater -12 dead & 58 wounded

[MuffyBee]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-james-holmes-hearing-20130604,0,2353533.story
Aurora movie rampage: Judge to rule on James Holmes insanity plea
June 4, 2013

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – The judge in the Aurora theater rampage case is expected to decide Tuesday whether to allow James E. Holmes to change his plea from not guilty to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Judge Carlos Samour Jr. of the state’s 18th Judicial District is considered likely to accept the new plea at a court hearing.

If so, the clock will start on a series of court-ordered psychological tests to determine Holmes’ mental state at the time of last summer’s massacre in a packed movie theater.

Holmes, 25, is charged with 116 counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges in the deadly rampage on July 20 that killed 12 people and injured 70 others.

The charges could carry the death penalty. But if doctors conclude that Holmes, a former neuroscience doctoral student at the University of Colorado-Denver, was insane or had a mental defect that made him unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the shooting, by law he cannot be put to death.

In March, Chief District Judge William Sylvester entered a traditional not guilty plea on Holmes’ behalf after the defense said it was not prepared to advise Holmes how to plea. The defense argued it could not proceed without knowing whether the district attorney would seek the death penalty.

Three weeks later, on April 1, Dist. Atty. George Brauchler announced that “justice is death” for Holmes.

Court documents show the defense had previously offered to have Holmes plead guilty and serve life in prison without the possibility of parole if the district attorney took the death penalty off the table.

Sylvester told the defense it could change the plea to not guilty by reason of insanity but would have to show why the change was warranted. Samour took over the case from Sylvester in April.

Last month, the defense team said it had only recently received a firm diagnosis of Holmes’ mental condition. That diagnosis was not revealed.

In addition to the change of plea, the contentious issue of doctor-patient privilege is expected to return Tuesday.
More...

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57587524/judge-accepts-insanity-plea-in-colo-shooting-case/
Judge accepts insanity plea in Colo. shooting case
June 4, 2013

CENTENNIAL, COLO. A judge on Tuesday accepted James Holmes' plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, setting the stage for a lengthy mental evaluation of the Colorado theater shooting suspect.

The court clerk placed a written advisory of the ground rules of the plea before Holmes so he could examine it as Judge Carlos Samour Jr. read through all 18 points.

When Samour asked if he had any questions, Holmes replied no. Samour then accepted the plea.
"I find Mr. Holmes understands the effects and consequences of the not guilty by reason of insanity plea," the judge said. "He was looking at the advisement and appeared to be following along."
 
Holmes' lawyers repeatedly have said he is mentally ill, but they delayed the insanity plea while arguing state laws were unconstitutional. They said the laws could hobble the defense if Holmes' case should ever reach the phase where the jury decides if he should be executed.

The judge rejected that argument last week.
 
Prosecutors say Holmes spent months buying weapons, ammunition and materials for explosives and scouted the theater in advance. He donned police-style body armor, tossed a gas canister into the seats and opened fire, they say.

The insanity plea is widely seen as Holmes' best chance of avoiding execution, and possibly his only chance, given the weight of the evidence against him.
But his lawyers delayed it for weeks, saying Colorado's laws on the insanity plea and the death penalty could work in combination to violate his constitutional rights.

The laws state that if Holmes does not cooperate with doctors conducting a mandatory mental evaluation, he would lose the right to call expert witnesses to testify about his sanity during the penalty phase of his trial. Defense lawyers argued that is an unconstitutional restriction on his right to build a defense. They also contended the law doesn't define cooperation.

Samour rejected those arguments last week and said the laws are constitutional.

The next step is an evaluation of Holmes by state doctors to determine whether he was insane at the time of the shootings. That could take months.

Colorado law defines insanity as the inability to distinguish right from wrong caused by a diseased or defective mind.

If jurors find Holmes not guilty by reason of insanity, he would be committed indefinitely to the state mental hospital. He could eventually be released if doctors find his sanity has been restored, but that is considered unlikely.

If jurors convict him, the next step is the penalty phase, during which both sides call witnesses to testify about factors that could affect why Holmes should or shouldn't be executed.

The jury would then decide whether Holmes should be executed or sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

If jurors impose the death penalty, it would trigger court appeals and open other possibilities that would take years to resolve.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Judge-accepts-insanity-plea-in-Colo-shooting-case-4573974.php
Prosecutors can have Colo. shooting case notebook
June 4, 2013

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — A judge says prosecutors can have access to a notebook Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes sent to a psychiatrist before last summer's rampage.

Judge Carlos Samour ruled Tuesday after accepting a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity from Holmes. He ordered the notebook to be turned over next week.
 
Defense lawyers argued psychiatrist Lynne Fenton never received the notebook so prosecutors shouldn't have access to it.

Prosecutors say police would like to do unspecified "additional processing" on the notebook.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/16/3500-holmes-jury/2428839/
Judge: 3,500 could be summoned for Holmes jury
June 16, 2013

DENVER (AP) — As many as 3,500 prospective jurors will be summoned when Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes goes on trial, another measure of the complexity and sensitivity of the case.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. included the estimate in a ruling dated Friday. The ruling granted a defense request to have all prospective jurors fill out questionnaires before they are questioned by lawyers.

Holmes is charged with more than 160 counts of murder and attempted murder. He is accused of planning and executing an assault on a packed movie theater in a Denver suburb in July, killing 12 people and injuring 70.

Among the dead were a 51-year-old father who had gone to the theater with his two teenage children. They escaped with no physical injuries.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and will undergo a mental evaluation at the state hospital before the trial.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 3, and since jurors will wield life-and-death power over Holmes, jury selection is likely to be slow, painstaking and contentious.

Once they are chosen, the jurors will be asked to weigh a staggering amount of evidence.

Prosecutors needed 2 1/2 days to present a rough outline of their case at a preliminary hearing in January, calling witnesses and showing photos and documents that pointed toward an intricately planned assault.

The case has generated nearly 40,000 pages of evidence, and more is on the way. This month, the judge granted prosecutors access to a notebook Holmes had sent a psychiatrist before the shootings. A receipt filed with the court shows the notebook was turned over to police on June 10.
 
For its part, the defense has filed more than 130 motions to date, and the deadline for motions about the death penalty is still more than three months away.

Defense lawyers have said they plan to seek a change of venue because of pretrial publicity.

[MuffyBee]

James Holmes's premeditation and the particularly cruel crimes he committed will weigh a lot more on the minds of jurors than seeing him shackled.  JMHO

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/28/us-usa-shooting-denver-idUSBRE95R04C20130628
Colorado theater gunman to be tethered to courtroom floor for trial
June 27, 2013

(Reuters) - A Colorado judge ruled on Thursday that accused theater gunman James Holmes will tethered to the courtroom floor by a cable for security reasons during his murder trial, but denied a defense request to sequester the jury.

Holmes is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from a shooting rampage last July that killed 12 moviegoers during a midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" at a suburban Denver cinema.
 

Holmes' public defenders have argued that allowing jurors to see their client handcuffed and shackled, as he has been in all of his court appearances so far, would unfairly prejudice them against the accused gunman.

Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. agreed, but said Holmes poses a security risk and that public safety requires that he be restrained during the proceedings.

Holmes will wear a harness under his street clothes with a cable bolting him to the courtroom floor, the judge said.

The cable will be visible to jurors, Samour said, but should be indistinguishable from computer cords emanating from the defense table.

In a separate ruling, the judge denied a defense motion requesting that jurors be sequestered during the trial, which is scheduled to start in February 2014 and is expected to last for about four months.

Jury sequestration is "an extremely rare procedure," the judge said, noting that it would be expensive and impractical to keep jurors sealed off from the outside world for the duration of the trial.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/news/A-year-later-survivors-recall-Aurora-shooting--216159811.html
A year later, survivors recall Colorado theater shooting
July 19, 2013

AURORA, Colo. (AP) -- It is not a small club, the survivors of the shootings at Theater 9.

The Century 16 auditorium was packed - 421 men, women and children who had turned out for a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." When a bizarre figure, helmeted and clad in black, appeared before them in a cloud of smoke, they reacted with bemusement and amazement, shock and confusion and - finally - horror.

Twelve people died, 70 were injured, and more than 300 fled into the night and into the arms of loved ones.

A year later, the survivors cannot forget their terror, or the injuries they suffered, or their losses. But they search for meaning, and sometimes find it: the victims whose faith has strengthened; the father who lost his son but found a cause; the couple who believe that the anniversary of a hateful act can be transformed by love.
More...

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**/breakingnews/ci_23687303/police-peppered-james-holmes-questions-after-shooting-documents
James Holmes was "peppered" with police questions after arrest
Posted July 18, 2013, Updated July 19, 2013

 

After Holmes was brought to the Aurora police headquarters early July 20, detectives "peppered" him with questions, according to a filing by Holmes' attorneys made public Thursday. Among the questions: "Are you having trouble breathing?," "Do you need us to get you some help?" and "Is there anything we should know about?"

Detectives also asked Holmes three times, "Are you good to talk with us?" And one detective told Holmes, "If you have any questions, please, feel free to ask," according to the court filing.

That last statement apparently prompted the mystery question Holmes asked detectives after his arrest. The new court filing suggests the question was about "the sign he saw at the police station."

The filing adds new detail to the hours after Holmes was arrested outside the Century Aurora 16 movie theater — where, his attorneys have admitted, Holmes killed 12 people and wounded dozens more during what his attorneys have described as a psychotic episode — and before he asked for a lawyer.

Holmes' lawyers say his responses to the detectives' questions should not be admitted at trial because the queries came before Holmes was read his rights. Prosecutors say the questions were allowable because authorities were trying to determine if there were any other immediate threats to public safety.

The new filing was one of dozens defense attorneys submitted Wednesday that were made public Thursday. Nearly all the filings are rebuttals to prosecutors' responses to defense motions. Weeks of hearings on all motions in the case not related to the death penalty are scheduled for October.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/nation/judge-sets-hearings-on-holmes-statements-evidence/article_a7a9163f-574d-5549-a6f2-d8ab1470b34a.html
Judge sets hearings on Holmes statements, evidence
August 9, 2013

Lawyers for the man accused in the Colorado theater shooting will get a chance to argue in court that statements James Holmes made to police after his arrest shouldn't be used in his trial, a judge said Friday.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. scheduled hearings in October on defense claims that police violated Holmes' constitutional rights by questioning him without reading him his Miranda rights and after he asked for a lawyer.

Prosecutors argue the questions were permissible because officers were trying to protect the public by determining whether Holmes was armed and had an accomplice.
More...

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http://www.kvue.com/news/national/219977691.html
Holmes lawyers again challenge death penalty
August 16, 2013

DENVER (AP) — Lawyers for Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes are again arguing that the state's death penalty law is unconstitutional.
In motions filed Friday, defense lawyers say the law doesn't set clear standards and makes it too hard for jurors to weigh mitigating factors when they deliberate whether to impose the death penalty.
Holmes' lawyers also argue that defendants who choose trial by jury are allowed fewer options to appeal the death penalty than those who choose trial before a judge, without a jury. The defense says that's unconstitutional.
Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in July 2012. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
In May, the judge rejected defense arguments that the death penalty law could unfairly cripple the insanity defense.
More...

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http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/08/18/theater-shooting-victim-begins-the-rest-of-his-cycling-tour/
Theater Shooting Victim Begins The Rest Of His Cycling Tour
August 18, 2013

 

Stephen Barton began his latest tour called “Ride for Aurora” Saturday morning along with a friend. Last year he had ridden his bike more than 2,700 miles from Virginia before stopping in Colorado where he decided to catch the premier of “The Dark Knight Rises.” He was shot in the neck that night during the rampage that left 12 dead.

Now Barton is raising money and attempting to ride the remaining 1,400 miles to San Francisco in the next three weeks. Every dollar he earns goes to the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance.

Find out more about Ride for Aurora on Barton’s website, RideforAurora.org.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57599213-504083/james-holmes-update-d.a-wants-to-limit-death-penalty-testimony-in-colo-theater-shootings-trial/
James Holmes Update: D.A. wants to limit death penalty testimony in Colo. theater shootings trial
August 19, 2013

 

In motions released Monday, the district attorney's office asked the judge to bar testimony about how the state puts inmates to death if the trial gets to the sentencing phase.

Holmes is accused of opening fire in a theater full of people watching a Batman movie in Aurora, Colo. in July 2012, killing 12 and wounding 70. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple charges of murder and attempted murder.

His trial is scheduled to start Feb. 3 with jury selection.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Under Colorado law, that means if the jury convicts Holmes of first-degree murder, the same jury decides whether he should be executed or sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Colorado uses lethal injection for executions, but questions have been raised about whether the chemicals prescribed by law are available.

Further clouding the picture, Gov. John Hickenlooper stepped into another death penalty case in May, indefinitely delaying the execution of a prisoner already on death row because of questions about the fairness of the state's death penalty system and about the availability of the drugs.

The prosecution motion, one of several filed Friday and made public Monday, appears to be a pre-emptive move to keep those questions from creeping into Holmes' trial.

Other prosecution motions asked the judge to bar testimony during the sentencing phase about how Holmes' family and friends would be affected if he is executed, and what prison is like for inmates serving life without parole - apparently hoping to keep the defense from trying to convince jurors that prison would be harsh for Holmes and they wouldn't be letting him off easy if they send him there.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to bar the defense from trying to raise doubts in jurors' minds during the sentencing phase about whether Holmes should have been convicted.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/call7-investigators/james-holmes/cu-has-released-thousands-of-emails-regarding-accused-aurora-theater-shooter-james-holmes
Email: James Holmes explored being subject for researcher doing brain scans on schizophrenic people
CU releases documents on theater shooting suspect
Posted: 12/05/2012
Last Updated: 3 days ago (September 2, 2013)

AURORA, Colo. - Accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes in 2011 expressed interest in being a test subject for a University of Colorado researcher who was using brain scans to study schizophrenic people.

Yet, within hours Holmes said he couldn't participate in the study, CALL7 Investigator Keli Rabon reports.

The revelation came out of more than 3,000 documents released by CU Wednesday that CALL7 Investigators have being pouring over. The records -- including many emails -- were released in response to public records requests by 7NEWS and other news organizations.
Holmes had been a neuroscience graduate student at CU's Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora and was in the process of withdrawing from the program at the time of the shooting.

Holmes was also a patient of CU psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Fenton, who reported to campus police she had concerns about Holmes six weeks before the shooting.

On Sept. 18, 2011, Holmes emailed a CU Department of Psychiatry researcher who does functional magnetic resonance imaging -- or fMRI -- research on people with schizophrenia.

"The fmri study sounds interesting and I would like to be a subject if possible. Cheers, James Holmes," he mailed the researcher.

Yet, when the researcher emailed Holmes a list of testing times, Holmes replied, "Ah, I can't make any of those times, best of luck."

Link to read some of the emails: http://media.thedenverchannel.com/documents/selected-documents-from-homes-emails.pdf

University concerns after the shooting

Another document shows university staffers were concerned amid the FBI investigation into the shooting that Holmes could have received shipments of hazardous materials on campus.

"I realize with the ongoing investigation, some of these issues are delicate," Ethan Carter, director of the Department of Environmental Health and Safety at the Anschutz campus, emailed colleagues just two days after the shooting.

"I believe we know that some shipments for James Holmes were delivered to the University," he adds in the email sent to "UPD" -- the University Police Department -- CU legal staff and others.

 

Holmes' access to campus

Fifteen hours after the deadly shooting, CU technology administrators' emails were asking if they should "disable" Holmes' still-active electronic badge account, to prevent the former graduate student's access to campus buildings.

"James Holmes…has an active account. I have Valeria contacting the badging officer. Should we disable it," a campus information technology manager emailed his boss.

"Dont (sic) do anything as of now…administration and Police know. We'll only take action based on Legals direction. " emailed Russell J. Poole, the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Information Technology at the Anschutz campus.

"Ok. His account is still enabled," the IT manager replies to Poole. "Badging knows he potentially had two badges and has acted on that information."

However, CU spokesman Jacque Montgomery on Wednesday reaffirmed information in a previously released document showing that Holmes' employee access badge was turned in and deactivated on Aug. 25, 2011 and his student access badge was turned in and deactivated on June 15, 2012 -- more than a month before the shooting.

By the time of the IT administrators' email exchange, 3:12 p.m. on July 20, Holmes was in police custody, having been arrested early that morning outside the theater.

Public relations response

The emails also show a massive effort by the university's public relations team to control faculty, staff, and students in the wake of the theater shooting, telling them not to talk to news organizations.

However, emails reveal that some in the university community strongly felt otherwise, writing that the university should come clean and tell everything it knows.

In an apparent effort to see how the shooting impacted the CU campus' image, documents show the university tracked thousands of worldwide Internet news stories about the theater shooting, from publications in Argentina to Zimbabwe. They compiled several charts to track the number of stories and their countries of origin.

CU used a search engine to track news stories with the key words "James Holmes" and "Anschutz" in English and Spanish. They also rated the stories as "Positive," "Neutral" or "Negative."

One headline that was repeatedly cited in the tracking documents: "Alleged Colorado gunman mailed notebook to psychiatrist detailing plans of massacre."

 
 Redacted emails

About one-third of the emails were redacted, due to student privacy and medical privacy reasons. Some emails were also blacked-out because Holmes defense lawyers considered them to be "personal" communications.

Soon after the shooting, Arapahoe County District Court Judge William Sylvester issued a gag order restricting what law enforcement agencies and defense attorneys and other entities could say and what documents they could make public about the case.

Last month, the judge ruled that the university could release documents it deems public under the Colorado Open Records Act.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/colorado-theater-shooting_n_3832677.html
Colorado Theater Shooting Victim-witnesses Can Attend James Holmes Trial
August 28, 2013



DENVER — Victims of the Colorado theater shootings can attend defendant James Holmes' trial and pretrial hearings, even if they will be called to testify as prosecution witnesses, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Attorneys for Holmes had asked the judge to bar all prosecution witnesses from the proceedings. State court rules allow such exclusions to keep witnesses from hearing – and being influenced by – others' testimony.

But Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. said the rule, which has the backing of the state Supreme Court, is trumped by the victims' rights section of the Colorado Constitution. A voter-approved provision allows victims of a crime to be present "at all critical stages" of court proceedings centering on the crime.
 
Samour's ruling acknowledged that the question of whether to allow victim-witnesses to be present during the trial and pretrial hearings was tricky, especially with Holmes' life at stake.

"In this mass shooting case in which the prosecution seeks the death penalty, should the court exclude hundreds of victims from all the critical stages of the judicial proceedings?" he wrote. Referring to his own analysis and reasoning – which take up 27 pages – he wrote, "The court must answer `no.'"

Samour criticized the defense arguments, saying they "fall woefully short" and lacked substance, and he noted that Holmes' lawyers never claimed that allowing victim-witnesses in the courtroom would threaten his right to fair trial.

The judge said that left him with the responsibility of considering whether Holmes' rights would be violated, and he concluded they would not.

Among other things, Samour said, there is no evidence that victim-witnesses would influence others' testimony, and the trial will focus more on Holmes' sanity than on the details of the shooting.

Samour noted that the state constitution's definition of a victim would apply to anyone who was in the same theater as Holmes as well as anyone in the adjacent theater, because some shots penetrated the wall separating them. Prosecutors have said about 750 people were in the two theaters.

Samour ruled that prosecution witnesses who were not victims cannot attend the trial or pretrial hearings.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/call7-investigators/james-holmes/theater-shooting-victims-family-sues-james-holmes-psychiatrist-dr-lynn-fenton
Theater shooting victim's estranged wife sues James Holmes' psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Fenton, CU
Jonathan Blunk's estranged wife files suit
September 2, 2013

AURORA, Colo. - The estranged wife of a victim killed in the Aurora theater shooting is suing shooting suspect James Holmes' psychiatrist and school.

Jonathan Blunk, a father of two and Navy veteran, died in the shooting after he pushed his girlfriend, Jansen Young, under a seat, saving her life.

CALL 7 Investigator John Ferrugia previously reported that University of Colorado psychiatrist Lynne Fenton had told a university police officer that she was concerned because Holmes had been talking about killing a lot of people.

The lawsuit filed by Blunk's wife echoes this information.

"Upon information and belief, James Holmes told Defendant Fenton on June 11, 2012, that he fantasized about killing a lot of people," it reads.

Ferrugia reported that Dr. Fenton was so concerned about the potential threat that she broke her doctor-patient confidentiality, giving police Holmes' name so the officer could run the criminal background check.

Holmes had no criminal background or any history of violence.

In one of the calls, sources told Ferrugia, the CU officer asked Fenton if she wanted Holmes detained for a 72-hour mental health evaluation.  As his psychiatrist, she could order such a hold.

The officer had no legal reason to order such a hold herself, and sources say she had deferred to the doctor's judgment.
 
Blunk moved to Colorado in 2009 after separating from his wife, Chantel, and moved to Colorado, where he worked for a hardware store. He had two young children with his wife, a girl, 4, and a boy, 2.

Attorney Nicholus C. Palmer of Reno, Nevada, from The Law Firm of Laub & Laub filed the lawsuit on behalf of Chantel Blunk. It requests at least $75,000 for negligence on the part of Fenton, the same amount for wrongful death and the same amount for negligence on the part of the university.

CU issued a statement on Tuesday that read, "The University of Colorado Denver has nothing but sympathy for the victims of the Aurora Theater Shooting and their families, but in our initial review of this case, the University believes this lawsuit is not well-founded legally or factually. "

Link to above referenced lawsuit: http://media.thedenverchannel.com/documents/Fenton%20Lawsuit.pdf

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57601172/james-holmes-lawyers-file-new-death-penalty-challenges/
James Holmes' lawyers file new death penalty challenges
September 3, 2013

DENVER Lawyers for Colorado theater shooting defendant James Holmes have filed six new constitutional challenges to the death penalty, saying execution is cruel and unusual punishment.

The challenges also say executions in Colorado are arbitrary.
The motions were among 20 made public Tuesday. They were filed last week.
More...

Slide show with 23 images of the Aurora shooting victims

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57601292-504083/jana-winter-update-fox-news-reporters-hearing-over-james-holmes-story-delayed/
Jana Winter Update: Fox News reporter's hearing over James Holmes story delayed
September 4, 2013

(CBS/AP) CENTENNIAL, Colo. - A Colorado judge has delayed a hearing at which Fox News reporter Jana Winter may be ordered to reveal her sources on a story about theater shooting suspect James Holmes. Citing unnamed sources, Winter reported that a notebook Holmes sent to a psychiatrist prior to the shooting contained violent drawings.
The delay gives Winter time to hear whether a New York appeals court will grant her request to reject a Colorado subpoena seeking the names.
 
Defense lawyers contend the leak violated a gag order. They also say police officers may have undermined their credibility as witnesses if they lied when they denied being Winter's source.

If Winter wins the appeal, the subpoena would have no force and she wouldn't have to testify.

Winter says she won't identify her sources. That could result in a jail sentence for contempt of court if the judge decides her testimony would be relevant.

The judge on Tuesday delayed the hearing from Sept. 30 until Jan. 3.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/news/national/226338461.html
Judge: Holmes prosecutors can see mental records
October 3, 2013

DENVER (AP) — The judge in the Colorado theater shootings says prosecutors can have the records they're seeking about defendant James Holmes' mental health, but not other medical records.
In a ruling released Thursday, the judge said prosecutors are entitled to Holmes' mental health records from the state hospital and from a university where Holmes saw a psychiatrist while he was a student.
The ruling says prosecutors cannot have medical records that don't pertain to Holmes' mental health. Prosecutors had sought both medical and mental health records.
The records haven't been made public.
 

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/15/officer-holmes-gave-self-satisfying-smirk/2988993/
Officer: Colo. suspect Holmes gave 'self-satisfying' smirk
October 15, 2013

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/21/us-usa-shooting-denver-idUSBRE9AK12R20131121
Trial of accused Colorado theater gunman postponed
November 21, 2013

(Reuters) - The trial of accused Colorado theater gunman James Holmes was postponed indefinitely on Thursday to deal with requests by prosecutors for further mental health evaluations of the former doctoral student, a judge ruled on Thursday.

Holmes, a former neuroscience graduate student, had been slated to go on trial in February for the July 2012 slayings of 12 moviegoers and the wounding of 70 others during a screening of a Batman film at a suburban Denver cinema.

But Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour vacated that trial date on Thursday. Prosecutors, who would seek the death penalty if Holmes is convicted, want him to be evaluated by two experts for limited purposes, which the defense opposes.

"It is virtually unheard of, what is being requested," defense lawyer Tamara Brady told the judge.

Holmes, 25, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, and has already been subjected to a court-ordered examination at a state mental health hospital. The conclusions reached by evaluators have not been released publicly.
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/09/james-holmes-aurora-shooting-bombs-statement/4397797/
Holmes statement on bombs can be used in trial
January 9, 2014

DENVER (AP) — The judge in the Colorado theater shootings says most of the things defendant James Holmes told investigators about explosives found in his apartment can be used against him, even though he was denied access to an attorney at the time.

Thursday's ruling says Holmes wasn't coerced and spoke voluntarily to the investigators.

What Holmes said hasn't been made public.

The 38-minute interrogation occurred about 14 hours after the shootings as police were trying to figure out how to defuse a web of bombs and triggers in the apartment.

The judge said investigators were justified in questioning Holmes without a defense attorney present because of the threat the explosives posed.