James Holmes

Holmes case and trial costs still being tallied

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 20:22:20 +0000

Holmes case and trial costs still being tallied Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 12/20/2015 - 13:22 Lo Snelgrove , Peri Duncan , Carol McKinley

Number reaches $4.5 million — and that doesn't begin to count defense attorney salaries and some expenses still to be released by prosecutors

Graphic by Lo Snelgrove/CU News Corps

No one knows exactly how much taxpayer money was spent on the Aurora theater shooting case, but the three-year investigation and trial is surely one of the most — if not the most — expensive in Colorado history.

Figures obtained by CU News Corps from several public agencies reveal that the investigation and trial has cost at least $4.5 million in total, and those numbers will rise even more when the 18th Judicial District releases final figures early next year. Ten attorneys’ salaries for both sides — another $4 million — are not included in this figure, because they would be paid regardless of the trial happening. The ACLU of Colorado estimates the average cost of a death penalty trial to be $3.5 million, before any appeals.

“Given how much the prosecution cost, plus ancillary costs like security at the courthouse and police overtime, it’s a safe bet to say this was the most expensive case ever to be tried in Colorado,” said Steve Zansberg, president of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.

But this is still only an educated guess from the longtime media lawyer — nobody can say with certainty what the costs of this trial actually are. Nobody except the people who spent the money.

CU News Corps opened official records requests with multiple entities, including the 18th Judicial District, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the State Public Defender. All requests were fulfilled, except that of the State Public Defender, who replied only with the salaries of the five attorneys who worked on the case for three years. Nobody outside of the OSPD knows how much money was spent on psychiatric experts, forensics, travel or any additional costs.

State Public Defender Doug Wilson has been under scrutiny for not releasing his office’s bill for the trial, but Wilson said his ethical obligations to protect his client’s communications and confidentiality prevent him from doing so.

“My job is to protect that person sitting beside me,” Wilson said. “I have no duty or loyalty to you as a citizen, or to the victim, or to the governor or to law enforcement. I have one duty and that is to protect that one person sitting beside me, and we believe in that.”

Colorado’s public defenders and prosecutors are now engaged in a very public spitting match over who spends how much in capital punishment cases and how much the public should know about those costs. The 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler said the public defenders have an obligation to the taxpayers to open their financial books. Brauchler led the prosecution of Holmes and convicted him, but lost a bid for the death penalty.

“They don’t want the public to know how much they spend,” Brauchler said. “Taxpayers should say, ‘We’ll give you money when you tell us how you spend it.’”

In response to the influx of criticism, Wilson performed his own open records requests on the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council. He told CU News Corps that on a statewide level, the DA’s yearly budget is almost twice that of the public defender’s, or nearly $157 million.

Ernie Lewis, executive director of the National Association for Public Defense, said it’s dangerous to compare the budgets, because the two offices’ jurisdictions are funded differently.

Both sides are funded by taxpayer dollars: the 18th Judicial District’s budget is supported by its counties, the OSPD is fed by the state. One aims to bring justice to victims and criminals. The other defends Constitutional law and people who couldn’t otherwise afford an attorney. Both are vital to the functioning of our justice system.

“The competition over budgets between prosecutors and public defenders is a relatively old story,” Lewis said. “It happens in most places because the pie is finite, and when you’re in an adversarial relationship, both parties are going to want some sort of advantage.”

Some prosecutors are starting to feel outmanned by the OSPD, which has been reported to often have more lawyers on a case than their opposition. Tom Raynes, executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, said some counties can’t keep up.

“For example,” Raynes said, “In Pueblo, there are 22 prosecutors, but there are 26 public defenders. They get pounded down there.”

Wilson holds fast to his claim that he cannot — according to the American Bar Association — ethically divulge any details on the Aurora theater killer case, but his state-approved budget, along with performance reviews, is available on his office’s website.

“We are more transparent than almost any state agency, and we are more transparent than almost any prosecutor’s office in the state,” Wilson said.

Squaring Off

Prosecutors claim they reveal every penny they spent on the Aurora theater shooter case, from how much they pay their experts to what it cost to stock the courtroom with tissues. Unlike the OSPD, the DA’s office is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).

The public defender’s office does not have to comply because it operates under the Judiciary System — the entire branch can turn away CORA requests. Colorado is one of 13 states that exempts offices within the judicial branch from open records requests.

“We’re really not trying to hide anything. This isn’t me playing a shell game,” Wilson said.

Still, prosecutors contend that taxpayers who fund the OSPD should know how every dime of their money is spent.

“This is a fundamental responsibility of state government. And since no one can question them, they are their own gatekeeper,” Brauchler said.

Some state legislators agree with Brauchler and are working on a bill for the 2016 session that would make the State Judiciary subject to CORA. But Wilson says even if such a bill passes, he would not — could not — give up the numbers. It’s going to take a lawsuit, he said.

“I’ve been waiting for you guys to sue me for three years,” Wilson said. “Sue me. Let’s find out. I believe we will win.”

Wilson cited Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6, which he said preserves client confidentiality, and, along with Colorado law, shelters his office from having to release details about how it allocates much of its budget. If Wilson released the numbers, he said, he would face personal penalties, the worst fathomable being disbarred.

Lisa Teesch-Maguire, one of Brauchler’s deputy prosecutors, called Wilson’s use of Rule 1.6 a ruse.

“They just hide behind the veil of, ‘it’s attorney-work product,’ and I don’t think it is,” Teesch-Maguire said.

The high-profile mass murder trial is what drew attention to the OSPD’s spending, but it’s one piece of the office’s overall budget. Nationally, Colorado falls in the middle of overall spending for public defenders, with funding of $16 per resident per capita. Oregon spends nearly $26 and Mississippi spends just over $5. Colorado’s public defenders have an annually approved budget paid by the state, compared to Louisiana, which is funded by fees associated with traffic tickets.

But when it comes to the death penalty, the Colorado OSPD opens its wallet a little wider, said Bob Grant, the former district attorney who prosecuted Gary Lee Davis. Davis was the last person executed in Colorado.

“I think they spend money on capital cases to say they spend money,” Grant said. “The public defenders want to make it as expensive as possible.”

Grant said it makes sense that the public defender puts greater fiscal emphasis on capital cases — the OSPD opposes capital punishment. But, he said, “Many people would question the basis for that magnitude of that expenditure. Outside of capital cases, I don’t have any reason to believe they’re frivolous in their spending.”

Grant said district attorneys and public defenders cannot be compared side-by-side. The two entities take on different types of cases, and their budgets can’t be compared without first considering case and workload of both offices.

Public Defender Costs

Here’s what the Office of the State Public Defender has released about its budget in response to Open Records requests from several news agencies, including CU News Corps.

A figure that amounts to half of the office’s total attorney salaries for the entire state in the last 13 years went toward defending Holmes. Of the $4.34 million paid in salaries since 2002, more than $2 million was for salaries of the five attorneys who defended the mass murderer. Wilson pointed out that those attorneys would have been paid regardless of having the theater shooter case to work on.
The office has spent at least $6.3 million on 10 death penalty cases over the past 13 years, according to documents obtained by CU News Corps from the Office of the State Public Defender.
$1.99 million of that $6.3 million represents “aggregate expenses”.
The OSPD’s budget for next year will be $86 million. Last year they returned $500,000 of unused funds. Wilson supplied CU News Corps with the entire budget for all prosecutors in the state, which is nearly $157 million.
CU News Corps specifically requested numbers regarding the millions of dollars spent on Holmes’ trial, but the public defender’s office would only supply salaries of the five attorneys defended the Aurora theater shooter. Wilson also confirmed that the OSPD did not pay to house the defendant’s parents during the trial, who came from California to support their son.

The 12 information requests denied to CU News Corps included:

Money spent on expert witnesses, some of whom never testified.
Money spent on travel to conduct interviews with the gunman’s family and friends in and out-of-state.
Cost of housing character witnesses and their families during the trial.
Cost to house the five attorneys during the four-month trial.

18th Judicial District Expenses

Here’s what CU News Corps has learned about money spent by by District Attorney George Brauchler’s office to build its case and prosecute the killer. They reported spending a total of $1.84 million for the three-year investigation and trial. The office received a federal grant that brought their out-of-pocket expenses down to $183,024. This number is subject to rise after the first of the year.

$543,131 in total mandated costs funded by state funds:

$498,852 for expert witnesses
$44,279 in other costs associated with the trial (water bottles, tissues, subpoena services, testifying witness travel)

$1,114,498.92 in federal grant money spent:

$871,733 for Deputy District Attorney Lisa Teesch-McGuire + 3 victims advocates and 1 victim compensation specialist
$201,718 for victim travel
$28,846 for additional supplies
$12,202 “professional services”

$183,024 spent from the Office of the District Attorney’s operating budget:

$75,123 for the help of retired district attorney Dan Zook
$66,433 for Teesch-Maguire’s salary between January 20 – October 10, 2015
$20,000 in 640 hours of employee overtime
$12,809 for investigator travel
$8,658 for additional supplies

More Costs of the Holmes Case

Additional costs we gathered from other public entities added up to nearly $2.5 million.

The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office

$1.625 million for housing, feeding and transporting the defendant from his arrest in July 2012 until Aug. 28, 2015, the day after sentencing. The Sheriff’s Office received a grant of $403,218.77 to help with the costs.

Nearly $95,000 went toward housing, at a cost of $83 a day. The mass murderer was in a single-person cell.
$35,917 that went toward transportation, but Arapahoe County spokesperson Julie Brooks did not go into detail.
$506,372 in employee overtime.

Graphic by Lo Snelgrove/CU News Corps

Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

$17,265 for investigating James Eagan Holmes from July 20, 2012 until Aug. 27, 2015 (13 months). That includes ballistics, fingerprints, computer/IT information, and any other costs related to the case.

Colorado State Patrol Department of Public Safety

$997 for a plane ride the killer took to the Mental Health Institute at Pueblo in late July 2014 for in-person sanity evaluations.

Colorado Department of Human Services

At least $499,079 for 700 hours of service for two court-appointed psychiatric experts hired to examine Holmes. The final figure is unknown. The amount above does not include the on-stand testimonies of state-appointed psychiatrists Dr. Jeffrey Metzner and Dr. William Reid during the guilt-or-innocence and sentencing phases of the trial. It’s normal for expert witnesses to be paid $300-600 per hour. At one point during the trial, Reid made a statement under oath said on-stand that implied he’d been paid, “half a million dollars”.

Aurora Police Department

$315,200 in employee overtime.

Looking Ahead

After years of facing criticism over their accused secrecy, Wilson’s office is starting to open up. At a Smart Act hearing this week, he announced his attorneys’ salaries with lawmakers.

Colorado Public Defender Doug Wilson

“He’s sharing so that we can have some idea of what taxpayers are paying for,” said Rep. Yeulin Willett (R-Grand Junction).

Willett was so impressed with Wilson’s willingness to divulge that the state representative decided to withdraw his sponsorship of a bill seeking to force the public defender to reveal more.

“If their overall budget is fair, I have to respect their office,” Willette said. “The death penalty is the ultimate punishment, and it’s easy to criticize how much they spend on those cases.”

If Wilson stops providing this kind of information openly, however, Willett said he will reinstate his support for the bill.

Other legislators remain unsatisfied with the lack of accessibility to information kept within Wilson’s office. State Representatives Polly Lawrence (R- District 39) and Rhonda Fields (D-District 42) have plans to push a freedom of information bill that would make the entire Colorado Judicial Branch subject to open records requests, to include the state public defender. A similar bill aimed specifically at Wilson’s office failed last year.

The OSPD is wading into two new high-profile cases as the new year approaches: that of accused Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear, and that of a 16-year-old girl arrested in relation to threats made to her high school in Highlands Ranch. Although Wilson has professed fiscal transparency to the public and to legislators, his office isn’t leaving the spotlight with the year 2015. He can likely anticipate ongoing demands for more disclosure as his office continues representing clients people love to hate.

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Reporter by trade, human by nature

Anonymous — Mon, 18 May 2015 19:19:57 +0000

Reporter by trade, human by nature Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2015 - 13:19 Lo Snelgrove

COMMENTARY - The very people that the Aurora theater shooter maimed sit just a stone’s throw away from him describing in as much detail as allowed the events of that day, the bodily wounds suffered and the long-term, physical disabilities or pain.

Gunshot victims have told about and/or shown the jury permanent nerve damage, the inability to walk without limping, amputated fingers; one young man had a part of his lower intestine removed and now has to adjust his diet and eating habits. Caleb Medley, who was an aspiring comedian, now sits in a wheel chair without ability to speak coherently or to stand on his own. Ashley Moser lost her child, her unborn child, and she now sits in a wheelchair, paraplegic.

Some witness testimonies have unharnessed visible emotion and caused a riptide of tear shed in the courtroom. Other victims have sat on the stand and calmly reported their injuries and the details of the shooting, as they themselves recall them. Today, when Kelly Bowen took the stand, she reminded everyone of the long-lasting psychological injury that many people continue to live with.

She trembled. She spoke softly, closing her eyes for prolonged periods of time. Her chest visibly rose and fell with each inhale and exhale of air, as if the oxygen was thinning in the room. She avoided looking to her right at all costs, where the shooter sat just 12 feet away.

Bowen was not physically injured the night of the shooting. She described seeing the shooter in the theater and running for her life at the sound of gunfire and screaming. She described tripping on the scattered trail of shoes left behind along the staircase while she tried to make her escape. She told the court about seeing a dead body slung over a trashcan at the top of the stair’s landing, among other bloodied bodies strewn about.

Bowen was picked up and thrown into a row of theater seats while she was running toward the exit door at the top of the theater’s stadium seating. Once she got home, she examined herself for injury. She was covered in blood. None of it was her own.

Bowen recalled having two bloody handprints on her clothing, and she assumed it was “from the person who threw (her) into the seats”.

When asked to described the shooter’s movements and behavior, she used the words, “searching” and “intent”. The defense objected on the grounds of speculation. The judge reminded Bowen three times to recall only her visual observations without inference.

Bowen choked up. She seemed to get angry and raised her voice slightly at one point when forced to find another way to describe the shooter’s actions. To her, in her mind, in her memory, the man in all black that caused a movie theater to look like a war scene DID walk with intent, and he did seem to be searching for targets to take out. It may be speculation and inappropriate for court, but these are the words that describe Bowen’s experience in the way she knows it and it describes the vivid memories that have stayed with her for the last three years.

We often talk about the physically injured. We acknowledge the deceased. We haven’t accounted for, to quite the same extent, the vast psychological injuries caused on the early morning of July 20, 2012.

There were about 140 seats in the theater that was gunned down, and the neighboring theater wall was penetrated by bullets, causing further injury to people next door. Add in the responding police officers, fire fighters, EMTs, ambulance drivers, FBI and CSI agents, S.W.A.T. team members, hospital staff, the friends and family of every person in the theater that night…. I dare not keep count of the people who saw and/or were affected by what one 20-year veteran police officer described as “horrendous” and “a nightmare”.

If you want to spark change in a society, get inside of the minds of many.

The Aurora theater shooter has gotten into perhaps thousands of people’s minds, leaving me wondering how we can counteract the violence and fear that one single man inserted into the lives of so many. At minimum he’s perpetuated an increasing trend of mass shootings in America and inflicted tragedy on the lives of hundreds of people.

Individuals may take action to heal themselves, but how do we heal a collective; how do we begin to approach a plan to prevent more mass shootings? How can we measure the widespread, visible and invisible impact of such a horrendous event, and can we negate the damage done?

I’m a reporter by trade, but a human by nature. It seems impossible to mute all my emotional reactivity to the constantly unfolding story of the Aurora theater shooting. It seems ignorant to stifle the stirring inside me to desire social change in an effort to prevent events like this in the future.

Some days are much harder than others from the courtroom gallery.

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Jury selection starts in Aurora Theater Shooting trial

Anonymous — Mon, 18 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Jury selection starts in Aurora Theater Shooting trial Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/18/2015 - 00:00

COMMENTARY, NO BYLINE

There’s a retired Army ICU nurse, a female explosions expert, and a victim’s advocate who, if she’d stayed with Aurora two more years, she’d have been counseling traumatized movie theater shooting survivors instead of sitting on the jury of one of the country’s most horrific massacres.

Colorado has suffered more than most when it comes to heinous crimes and that is apparent when you hear the stories. Juror 737 was close to Columbine shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris until 8th grade when their relationship faded. But in an unbelievable dynamic, he ended up taking adorable Rachel Scott to prom. She was the only one at the dance dressed in sleek black. She was the first of the Columbine High School victims to be murdered a week later. Juror 535′s niece was in the Columbine cafeteria when the pops sounded above her. Teacher Dave Sanders told her to run. She did. So did he…toward the bullets which would eventually kill him. In all, 24 people will spend up to five months of their lives on what DA George Brauchler calls “a roller coaster ride in the most horrific haunted house.”

They will all be in the courtroom unaware of which twelve are alternates and which 12 will actually vote. The final day of jury selection was nine hours long. Defendant James Holmes had to sit there when his lawyer asked the prospective jurors to look at him. “Can you tell he’s guilty?”

No, said one young female voice. “I don’t know what someone looks like when they’re guilty or when they’re not guilty.” “What about his haircut?” asked public defender Tamara Brady. “ Probably just a haircut,” answered the woman who would soon be chosen to occupy seat 9.

Holmes does have a new haircut. He’s shaved his beard, but kept the mustache and he’s gained weight. “I have been looking at Mr. Holmes,” said juror #733, a woman. “He looks like somebody walking down the street.”

Then juror #29 “I see a man who’s on trial. Probably a little scared. I don’t know if he knows everything that’s going on.” 733 and 29 were both scratched.

Holmes faces 165 charges. The jurors said they would look at each one individually. It took the judge an hour and a half to read each one of them. “Is it just too big?” asked Brady. The retired nurse had a good line. She’s old and her voice is shaky and she’s already a favorite of the media in the listening room. “It’s kind of like eating an elephant. You take one bite at a time.”

Quote of the day:

“Sir, I see that you put some Cheetos in your bag. If you did, you have to share them with the court.” ~ Judge Carlos Samour to Juror #29

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Book on theater shooting asks: what causes the mass-murder 'phenomenon'?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 May 2015 20:05:58 +0000

Book on theater shooting asks: what causes the mass-murder 'phenomenon'? Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/15/2015 - 14:05 Lo Snelgrove

Reporter Lo Snelgrove speaks with Stephen and Joyce Singular about their new book, “The Spiral Notebook,” and the social issues surrounding the Aurora theater shooting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&v=orADc7SFniU

Joyce Singular reads from the book, "The Spiral Notebook."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=121&v=4_vOxtxXZDU

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Theater trial, Day 11: Hours spent showing shell-filled, bullet-pocked theater

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2015 20:22:20 +0000

Theater trial, Day 11: Hours spent showing shell-filled, bullet-pocked theater Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/12/2015 - 14:22 Carol McKinley , Lo Snelgrove

Carol McKinley and Lo Snelgrove reflect on Day 11 of the Aurora theater trial.

AUDIO

Defendant James Holmes stands trial for the murder of 12 people at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater on July 20, 2012. Prosecution seeks the death penalty; the defense seeks to prove the defendant’s insanity at the time of the shooting.

Editor’s Note: CU News Corps will remember the victims of the tragedy with every post via this graphic.

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Day 8 of Aurora theater shooting trial features mountains of evidence

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Day 8 of Aurora theater shooting trial features mountains of evidence Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/07/2015 - 00:00 Kelsey Ragan

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — In an effort to demonstrate the forethought that went into the murderous rampage at Aurora’s Century 16 theater in July 2012, the prosecution in the theater shooting trial Thursday steered the courtroom away from personal testimony, at least in the morning session, and called FBI agents to testify.

The evidence was collected on July 20, 2012, following the mass shooting at the midnight premier of “The Dark Knight Rises,” where 12 people were killed and 70 injured. Defendant James Holmes’ attorneys are trying to prove that Holmes should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Day eight of the trial started off nearly as sleepy as the rainy weather Thursday, as the prosecution led with admission of physical evidence. The jury was attentive but muted.

By 11:45 a.m., a mountain of evidence was heaped upon a table. There were more than 100 admissions.

At 11:50 a.m., the jury was permitted to examine the admitted evidence. For 20 minutes jurors handled various pieces of tactical equipment —including a glove, a helmet, chaps and vest—a model 22 and a model 23 GLOCK, a rifle case and several magazines.

Jurors’ faces pulled into frowns as they grasped the materials.

The sheer volume of evidence overwhelmed the court staff as they passed it to and collected it back from the jurors.

Arlene Holmes, the defendant’s mother, took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

On day eight, Robert and Arlene Holmes showed more affection toward each other. Mr. Holmes put his arm around Mrs. Holmes and helped her put back on her soft yellow jacket. Both fidgeted in their chairs and looked worried as they scanned the jury for a reaction to the evidence.

The defendant continued to pivot side-to-side in his chair, not showing any physical reaction to the evidence displayed on screen or on the witness stand.

First on the stand was Toni Payne, an intelligence analyst and member of the FBI’s evidence response team since 2005. She photographed the scene at Century 16 the morning of July 20, 2012.

One piece of evidence on display was a close up photograph of a rifle, a pool of blood and a pair of bright pink flip-flops.

Following Payne’s testimony, the defense asked questions to clarify what had been found, an unusual move thus far.

The defense brought attention to a frontal photograph of the defendant’s car. They clarified that no effort had been made to disguise the license plate. They also asked Payne if she found any camping gear, like a sleeping bag or tent, in the car. Payne said no.

The defense will likely use the lack of evidence for a prepared getaway to demonstrate a disconnected understanding of the consequences.

Daniel King, the defendant’s attorney, cross-examined several witnesses. A pattern emerged when he followed up with questions that suggested witnesses did not have enough interaction to gauge the defendant’s mental state.

Thursday also featured more testimony from survivors, a tactic the prosecution will continue to use in these early weeks of the trial.

Survivor Amanda Teves took the stand Thursday.

Her boyfriend, Alex Teves wanted to see the new Batman movie. She knew that he wouldn’t want to be affectionate with her during the movie, she said.

“I asked him for one last kiss,” Teves said.

“Did you get it?” the prosecution asked.

“Yeah,” Teves said, her voice cracked. She did not see Alex Teves alive again. She took his name after his death. Now she carries it, always.

Holmes’ father stirred in his chair. Alex Teves had just graduated with his master’s in counseling psychology from the University of Denver. Teves had just the kind of bright future Holmes missed.

As the second week of trial continues, most of the media presence has cleared out on the left side of the courtroom. The right side, reserved for victims and family members, continued to shrink.

Editor’s Note: CU News Corps will remember the victims of the tragedy with every post via this graphic.

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Police interview Holmes: It's all about the bombs

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Police interview Holmes: It's all about the bombs Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/06/2015 - 00:00

James Holmes’ second interview with police happened with no attorney present at 3:45 p.m. July 20, 2012. It lasted 38 minutes. News organizations requested the the interview transcript. It’s all about the bombs.

Read full transcript

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He was a quiet man: DA digs into defendant’s life as a Ph.D. student on Day 7

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000

He was a quiet man: DA digs into defendant’s life as a Ph.D. student on Day 7 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/06/2015 - 00:00 Kelsey Ray

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Just because a person is smart doesn’t mean he isn’t mentally ill.

Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. made this point clear Wednesday, Day 7 of the Aurora theater shooting trial. All morning, prosecutors tried to prove defendant James Holmes’ intellect as a means of establishing his sanity on the night of July 20, 2012, when Holmes opened fire at the Century 16 theater in Aurora.

Samour acknowledged that intelligence alone wasn’t proof of sanity. “But intellect,” he reminded the court, “is an important issue in this case.”

Prosecutors, led by District Attorney George Brauchler, sought testimony Wednesday from two professors who mentored Holmes during his year as a Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado Boulder.

But before Brauchler began his questioning, defense attorneys objected to presentation slides and email exchanges Brauchler wanted to submit as evidence.

Public defender Rebekka Higgs argued that the materials, which demonstrate the complex neuroscience research the defendant completed as a student, were irrelevant. She accused the prosecution of a “fundamental misunderstanding that somebody cannot be smart and yet mentally ill.”

Samour overruled her objection, but it represents a major question jurors must contend with in assessing the defendant’s insanity plea: Does planning negate psychosis?

“That goes right to the root of what they have to decide,” former state public defender David Kaplan said in an interview after the day’s testimony.

Jurors now know that the defendant was intelligent. He studied neuroscience, got good grades and planned out his attack on the theater well in advance.

“The hurdle is that they have to get over the intuitive feeling that planning is the opposite of psychosis,” Kaplan said.

A disappointing student

CU Anschutz professors Acham Klug and Mark Dell’Acqua, who mentored the defendant in the first and second of three lab rotations the completed in graduate school, described a student with an impressive resume and a lackluster work ethic.

Though he excelled as an undergraduate, the defendant struggled to summon the motivation and time management skills required for success in grad school. Klug said he was “disinterested” during his first lab rotation. Dell’Acqua gave him a “B” in his second, a grade too low to merit further thesis work in the lab.

Under the prosecution’s questioning, both Klug and Dell’Acqua recalled a student who was bright but unmotivated, adept at test taking but socially awkward. During both lab rotations, the defendant did little research until just before his final presentation, they said.

Neither professor noted a significant change in the defendant’s personality over the year.

His jokes fell flat

During cross examination, the defense focused on abnormalities in the defendant’s personality. They cited his inappropriate use of humor during a final school presentation in a class.

Through their questions, both sides made their intentions clear. The prosecution wanted the defendant to appear sane and predictable. The defense attempted to show his eccentricities and academic decline.

It was a juror who asked the most direct question: “Did he ever seem disconnected from reality?”

“The answer is clearly no,” Klug said.

The courtroom heard testimony from two more victims and five members of law enforcement this afternoon. The trial will resume Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

UPDATE: Juror who knew victim stays

Juror 737 remains on the jury after surprising the court this afternoon with startling news: he knows one of the victims.

Moments after witness Alex Espinoza took the stand, Judge Samour stopped court and excused the witness and the jury. Only Juror 737 remained. He told Samour that he and Espinoza, who was shot in the arm in shooting, are “new friends.” He said they didn’t know each other yet during individual questioning.

Samour told the juror to consider whether his relationship with Espinoza would affect his ability to remain impartial. After a short break to think about it, the juror admitted that although he does feel an emotional connection to Espinoza, it won’t sway his decision.

The judge decided to let him remain on the jury.

“I am convinced that after thinking about it, he is comfortable and confident in his ability to be fair and impartial in this trial,” he said.

Espinoza returned to the stand and testified. Juror 737 and his wife are both forbidden from having any contact with the Espinozas for the remainder of the trial.

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Police interview gives details of Holmes' state of mind

Anonymous — Tue, 05 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Police interview gives details of Holmes' state of mind Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/05/2015 - 00:00

In the hours after the shooting, the police interviewing James Holmes in a tiny room at the Aurora Police Department said to him, “You’ve seen this before hundreds of times. Do you have any questions?”

His answer was, “Were children hurt?”

Other moments from James Holmes during that interview:

The detective asked him, “Do you want anything?” and James Holmes answered either, “Do you mean counseling?” or “Do you mean counsel?”

The detective got him some water.

“Do you want anything else?”

James Holmes — “Oxygen.”

“Are you out of breath?”

“Yes.”

Later, at around 3 a.m., Detective Chuck Mehr told the court that when he went in to check on the shooter, James Holmes was playing with the water bottle and plastic cup he’d emptied. He balanced the upside-down cup on the edge of the table and attempted to flip it into the air and land it on the water bottle, which was sitting upright on the table.

Earlier, when police put bags on his hands to preserve any gun powder residue, James Holmes turned his bagged hands into puppets making a rustling sound sitting all alone in the empty room.

The judge allowed a three-hour lunch so that one juror who broke her tooth over the weekend could visit the dentist.

“Thank you for being a trooper,” Judge Carlos Samour said.

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FBI agent: Booby-trapped apartment would have killed or maimed 'whoever was there'

Anonymous — Tue, 05 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000

FBI agent: Booby-trapped apartment would have killed or maimed 'whoever was there' Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/05/2015 - 00:00 Peri Duncan

Centennial, Colo. — In addition to shooting up Theater 9 at the Century 16 in Aurora on July 20, 2012, James Holmes booby-trapped his apartment with a goal of killing or maiming anyone who was lured in by the loud music that began blaring from his computer half an hour after he left, an FBI explosives expert testified Tuesday in court.

Special Agent Bomb Technician Garrett Gumbinner took the stand for three hours Tuesday and explained his assignment on the morning of July 20, 2012 — clearing Holmes’ apartment and car of explosives and other hazards with the help of Aurora police. The booby-trapped apartment was the team’s major concern.

The chemicals and other devices in the apartment, Gumbinner said, “would have made the whole apartment explode, killing or maiming whoever was there.”

Gumbinner was the key witness in a day filled with testimony about the traps Holmes created before setting off for the Century 16. Survivors of the shooting and police who interviewed Holmes that morning offered additional testimony. But it was the defendant’s apartment — a 10-minute drive from the theater — that stirred the courtroom Tuesday.

For both the defendant’s car — a white Hyundai — and his apartment, FBI agents deployed a bomb robot first, for the safety of the bomb squad and FBI agents. If someone had opened his apartment door and walked into the dark living room that night, that person would have most likely triggered the trip wire. This would result in an open container of glycerin pouring into the frying pan below, which held a black powder called potassium permanganate.

The initial booby-trap was set up near to the couch in the defendant’s living room. Holmes had soaked the carpet of the room in gas and sprinkled it with another white powder, ammonium chloride, in a zig-zag formation. In the middle of the living room floor he placed a series of black plastic balls, approximately 6 inches in diameter, full of explosive powder. Six green two-liter soda bottles full of gasoline sat around the chairs that the defendant placed in the middle of the room. Agents also found a mortar and pestle containing cut up magnesium and homemade thermite.

Magnesium fires are exacerbated by water; the apartment was set up so that had the explosives detonated, firefighters and first responders fighting the fire with water would have experienced a reaction.

Agents also found three jars sitting around the apartment living room. These jars were filled with homemade Napalm and bullets, topped off with more homemade thermite.

Screenshot of evidence from suspect's apartment

All of these explosives and incendiary devices surrounded a launch control box, or a pyrotechnic firing box, which also had the potential to ignite the setup. Another of these boxes was found on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen, which was later detonated for safety purposes.

The details of the apartment’s setup were found both through bomb squad disarming of the explosives as well as the interview Gumbinner and Aurora Police Detective Craig Appel conducted with the defendant. During the interview, the defendant rarely made eye contact and spoke in monotone, both Gumbinner and Appel said during Tuesday’s testimony.

In providing these meticulous descriptions of the explosive set up, the prosecution is doing its best to show deliberation. If a crime is committed with deliberation, it means that the defendant intended to commit the crime and thought about it beforehand. This is an important step for the prosecution in the path to proving that the shooter was not insane at the time of the incident.

After Deputy District Attorney Rich Orman completed his questioning of Gumbinner, defense attorney Katherine Spengler aimed her rebuttal questions at discrediting Gumbinner as an expert witness, emphasizing that the bombs did not detonate. Orman ended the questioning of Gumbinner by asking if, in the interview, the defendant ever said that all of the explosives were just for show. He didn’t.

Screenshot showing booby-trapped apartment.

More victims take the stand

Tuesday morning’s proceedings focused mainly on the incendiary setup in the defendant’s apartment, but prosecutors kept the focus on the victims instead of the defendant by starting and interspersing the day with victim testimonies, working to keep their promise that the jury will hear from every victim.

The accounts of both Denise and Brandon Axelrod, victims of the shooting, opened Tuesday’s testimony.

“Please make it stop.”

Denise Axelrod pleaded with her husband, Brandon. A split-second earlier, Brandon had pushed Denise to the floor of Theater 9, attempting to shield her with his body after the first gunshot rang out in the first minutes of Friday, July 20, 2012.

The Axelrods spent Thursday with their friend Joshua Nowlan, re-watching all of the previous Batman movies. They were preparing for the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises,” which they were excited to attend that evening.

Just a few hours later, when they left Theater 9 at the Century 16, blood had splattered and smeared its walls.

Maria Carbonell was Tuesday’s fifth witness.

She was a part of the Red Robin group attending for Alex Sullivan’s 27th birthday, with her son and daughter, 12 and 15 respectively, in tow. She recalled seeing the exit door open when the shooter came in, and hearing someone yell a profanity about the movie interruption. Carbonell lost track of her children during the chaos of fleeing the theater, stepping over two bodies on her way down the stairs. When shown a picture of Sullivan, who lost his life as a result of the shooting, she started to cry.

Defendant’s academic adviser testifies

Perhaps one of the people who had the most insight into the defendant’s life was his mentor during graduate school at the University of Colorado Boulder: today’s sixth witness, Sukumar Vijayaraghavan, nicknamed Suke.

Vijayaraghavan is the director of the neuroscience program at CU. He first met the defendant during interviews for the neuroscience program at CU, recalling him to be somewhat socially awkward, occasionally making out of context hand gestures and facial expressions. After admittance into the program, the defendant stayed somewhat in contact with Vijayaraghavan through occasional emails.

The CU neuroscience program is designed so that while taking classes, students are also participating in a lab rotation, three of which are required during the first year. In order to continue in the program, students must find a lab that will accept them after their rotation.

Vijayaraghavan evaluated the defendant’s first lab presentation, giving Holmes seven marks in the highest area, but medium marks in areas involving social skills, like mannerisms and responding appropriately with the audience. These marks continued to decrease with the following two labs.

After his June 7, 2012 oral exam, the defendant exchanged emails with Vijayaraghavan once again. Vijayaraghavan was concerned about the defendant’s performance in school, and they met to discuss it on June 11. Vijayaraghavan explained that he did not do well on the test, and he’d have to do a retest. Without much hesitation, the defendant replied that he would be leaving the program.

“I don’t do well with oral communication” the defendant said, just over a month before the theater massacre occurred. That was the last conversation Vijayaraghavan had with the defendant.

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