CENTENNIAL, Colo. 鈥� In James Holmes鈥� own words, the most important thing people should know about him is 鈥渢hat I鈥檓 kind of shy, I guess.鈥�
Few would agree. The general public knows Holmes not for his shy demeanor but for his decision, on July 20, 2012, to walk into a packed movie theater and fire into the crowd.
Now facing the death penalty, Holmes has spent the past five weeks wordlessly watching his own trial. Thursday marks the first time since opening statements that the court has heard from the defendant himself.
Prosecution screened the first of nine interview sessions between Holmes and psychiatrist William Reid late Thursday.聽Jurors will eventually watch all 22 hours of the videotaped psychiatric evaluation, which took place over five days beginning in late July 2014.
Psychiatrist: James Holmes knew right from wrong; Court shows evaluation video, Staff writer
May 28, 2015
Filed under聽
By Kelsey Ray
CU News Corps
CENTENNIAL, Colo. 鈥� In James Holmes鈥� own words, the most important thing people should know about him is 鈥渢hat I鈥檓 kind of shy, I guess.鈥�
Few would agree. The general public knows Holmes not for his shy demeanor but for his decision, on July 20, 2012, to walk into a packed movie theater and fire into the crowd.
Now facing the death penalty, Holmes has spent the past five weeks wordlessly watching his own trial. Thursday marks the first time since opening statements that the court has heard from the defendant himself.
Prosecution screened the first of nine interview sessions between Holmes and psychiatrist William Reid late Thursday.聽Jurors will eventually watch all 22 hours of the videotaped psychiatric evaluation, which took place over five days beginning in late July 2014.
听蹿谤辞尘听听辞苍听.
Court lasted 30 minutes longer than usual to accommodate the video, but earlier in the day it seemed possible the trial wouldn鈥檛 continue at all.
The defense called for a mistrial after Reid made a bold statement about Holmes鈥� sanity.
鈥淲hatever he suffered from, it did not stop him from forming the intent and knowing what he was doing and the consequences of what he was doing,鈥� Reid said on the witness stand.
But District Attorney George Brauchler hadn鈥檛 asked for Reid鈥檚 opinion yet, and the defense argued such a proclamation was out of line. Judge Carlos Samour Jr. ultimately denied the defense鈥檚 call for a mistrial, and court resumed without incident.
In the video, the shooter wore a dark, loose-fitting prison uniform shirt and rested his arms on his lap. Reid engaged him in smalltalk about his family life, hobbies and experience as an inmate.
Asked if he had any regrets, Holmes said 鈥測es鈥� 鈥� about the shooting
听蹿谤辞尘听听辞苍听.
The prosecution鈥檚 desire to show the video in court sparked months-long controversy before the trial began. Some legal experts still don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a good idea.
鈥淭he danger of showing these videos is that it makes jurors into amateur psychiatrists,鈥� defense attorney David Lane from Denver said in an interview.
鈥淚f other psychiatrists viewed the tapes and said that the psychiatrist was inappropriate in asking A, B, C or D,鈥� Lane said, 鈥渢hen the jury is going to have to work through their own views and might disregard the professionals.鈥�
Aside from specific interview questions, the timing of the evaluation is troubling to some. Reid didn鈥檛 speak with Holmes until two years after the shooting, when he鈥檇 been medicated for quite some time.
Denver University law professor Karen Steinhauser says that鈥檚 important to remember.
鈥淭he jury will have to keep in mind that [the interviews] did take place after he was medicated and not while he was having the psychotic delusions that the defense is arguing he suffered from at the time of the act,鈥� she said in an interview.
Given the lag time, Steinhauser is not sure the interviews are relevant to the jury.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how helpful the interviews will be in making the determination of whether or not he was insane at the time of the acts instead of the time of the interviews,鈥� she said.
It鈥檚 clear that the prosecution hopes Holmes鈥� calm demeanor and lucid answers in the video will prove his sanity to the jurors. The outcome won鈥檛 be revealed for months.
In the meantime, the entire courtroom has a lot of watching to do.
听蹿谤辞尘听听辞苍听.
Editors note: CU News Corps will honor the victims of the shooting in every post via this graphic.聽
