CO - James Holmes Trial - *Penalty Phase* #3

[Maisiebelle]

Wow! That judge socked it to her, didn't he?

And she will get a mental health evaluation.

All this and her Contempt of Court charges, too.

"C'mon in, sit a spell."

So this is on top of her 3 weeks in jail? She can get bail after the 3 weeks is up?


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[borndem]

So this is on top of her 3 weeks in jail? She can get bail after the 3 weeks is up?


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On the Contempt charge, one would serve his time and be done with it. It is enacted immediately and it ends when the time is served (or fine is paid).

On the other, she is charged and will await a trial, just like any other person charged with a crime. She will stay in the county jail on this unless she can post bond. And yes, she must serve her Contempt sentence and then she can post bond and get out on bail until trial time or until she pleads-out if the DA's office is willing and a judge agrees.

She's in a bit of a pickle for that outburst.

 

[borndem]

The "60 Minutes" program is showing a section on Mental Illness and insurance coverage. The first example was the anniversary of the shootings by Adam Lanza -- his parents' policy stopped paying for it.

The jurors certainly shouldn't watch this, IMO, but it might be informative for us.

 

[Coldpizza]

What's next in the Aurora theater shooting trial

KUSA – We could soon know the fate of the Aurora theater shooter.

The jury will continue deliberating Monday about whether to move forward to the final step of the sentencing phase – or to end the months-long trial altogether.

James Holmes was found guilty last month of the July 20, 2012 attack on an Aurora movie theater that left 12 people dead and 70 people wounded. They rejected the defense's argument that he was insane at the time of the shooting.

 

[Coldpizza]

From happy boy to mass murderer: James Holmes' life story weighed by jury
By Ann O'Neill, CNN

Centennial, Colorado (CNN)James Eagan Holmes did not start out in this world as a psycho killer. The evidence his lawyers presented in court last week showed he once was a cute, happy little boy from a doting family, a nice kid who was gentle with his dog and his baby sister.

He was wanted, he was encouraged and he was taken to piano lessons and soccer practice and neighborhood birthday parties. He was at the center of a pack of exceptional boys who ruled his Northern California neighborhood and elementary school.

It all seemed so Norman Rockwell normal.

He did well in school and played basketball and video games. He went to the beach, on camping trips in the mountains and to Disneyland. There were family gatherings on Thanksgiving and Christmas and neighborhood parties on July 4 and Halloween.

He was a bit of a prodigy. After he finished his assignments in fifth grade, he and a classmate filled the time writing code and building a website for the school. His teacher, impressed, called him a "Renaissance child."

By middle school, according to testimony, he was one of the top five players in the world at the video game Warcraft III. He also was starting to withdraw from people. Mental illness was always lurking in the background, Holmes' lawyers say. It stole his childish joy, and ultimately any chance he had for a normal life.

He's now a convicted mass killer asking for mercy. The jury is deliberating, and no matter what happens at this phase of his trial, Holmes will at the very least spend the rest of his days locked up. It is possible he may be put to death.

[...]

Brauchler's closing argument, already disjointed, was thrown off by a courtroom outburst.

"He's wrong!" a woman shrieked. "Don't kill him! Don't kill him!"

The woman was sitting in the public courtroom seats. Deputies, who had kept an eye on her, moved quickly to eject her. But she could be heard screaming from the hall. It was yet another unsettling event at a trial full of disturbing sights and sounds.

The woman told deputies she was homeless. She seemed to have mental issues, saying she'd been harassed and forced to show identification to get into the courtroom.

In fact, security at the trial is tight, and everyone is screened before entering the courtroom.

The defense suggested it might be more "humane" to hospitalize the woman. But the judge held her in contempt of court and sentenced her to three weeks in jail, saying her actions were "extremely offensive to the authority and dignity of the court."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/02/us/13th-juror-james-holmes-aurora-shooting/index.html

Much more at link^^^

 

[borndem]

Good Monday Morning, Sleuths!! Verdict today? I'm thinking yes. Verdict is _______ ?

No clue as to what the jury might do. Logic says one thing ==> aggravators, IMO, far outweigh mitigators, but MI may speak volumes to some on the jury. And I do think JH is mentally ill, but I also think he wasn't in the throes of psychosis that night or in the weeks, months preceding that night. Apparently, schizo-whatever-he-has (no disrespect intended) may resemble BPD a bit, in this way -- as long as you take your meds, eat, drink and sleep as you should, then you should be okay. But things can happen to aggravate your schizo--------, or you can go without sleep or meds or not eat, and you could find yourself in a psychosis (or if BPD, in a depressed or manic state). We saw that when he was in jail after not eating/drinking, boosted, IMO, by some acting on his part.

We'll need to stick around & see what happens. My thoughts are with the judge and the jury today for a good day for them and for a bit of normalcy in & around the courtroom and the jury room. And my thoughts are with all the families who are depending on jurisprudence to set things a little more right, however much that is possible.

:hanging:

:loveyou: .. :websleuther: .. :grouphug:


:justice:

​

 

[tezi]

Today the verdict will be Death. He can join the "Chuckie Cheese" killer on Death Row. Nathan Dunlap's sentence won't be carried out during the current governor's term...

 

[Chelly]

Good Morning WS Friends,
:loveyou:
Do we need clarification on what the jury is deliberating about now?

 

[borndem]

We're live with the principals -- no jury -- on the Instructions.
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And Mz. Harvard seems to be leading the DT's efforts to edit the Instructions. <gag>

 

[turaj]

Good Morning WS Friends,
:loveyou:
Do we need clarification on what the jury is deliberating about now?

Well hope the jury was able to reset and put that outburst in proper perspective as GB made some excellent points. I think they will come back today and hope they feel they have enough to continue on to consider the final outcome of death. I don't think we can underestimate the mental illness component here but the actual question of that moment and his being so psychotic is in serious question given all the evidence of the planning before/during and after. However is am really 50/50 on what will happen but think it will be today.

 

[MissHaley]

We're live with the principals -- no jury -- on the Instructions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

And Mz. Harvard seems to be leading the DT's efforts to edit the Instructions. <gag>

What link are you using? None of the links I tried are live. Thanks

 

[borndem]

We're live with the principals -- no jury -- on the Instructions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

And Mz. Harvard seems to be leading the DT's efforts to edit the Instructions. <gag>

Or not. Court Chatter may not be live --- on break -- so I'm not so sure.... Sorry. Ackkkkk!!!


----------------------------

It's not Live -- They had LIVE plastered all over everything, but it was from Thursday -- please excuse. Gurrrrrrrr.

 

[borndem]

Kevin Dale &#8207;@kevindale [video=twitter;628222423125508096]https://twitter.com/kevindale/status/628222423125508096[/video] Jurors resume deliberating in phase 2 of sentencing. Aurora #theatershooting trial, Day 61: http://dpo.st/1M6CpHV via @jsteffendp

The Denver Post
[h=2]Aurora theater shooting trial, the latest from Day 61[/h] Jurors in the Aurora theater shooting case resumed their deliberations on Monday in the second phase of the sentencing hearing.

 

[borndem]

Tamara Gibbs ABC11 follows 7NEWS Denver Channel &#8207;@DenverChannel [video=twitter;628220803071508480]https://twitter.com/DenverChannel/status/628220803071508480[/video]
#TheaterShooting jurors resume deliberations regarding mitigating factors in “phase 2” of penalty process. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/movie-theater-shooting/aurora-movie-theater-shooting-jurors-resume-phase-2-deliberations …

 

[Maisiebelle]

Hello lovely friends! I really hope the jury can look past the outburst and remember what GB was saying. I can imagine it was frustrating for him to get into his stride only to be tripped over by this woman.


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[Amster]

So....in this phase, jury will decide if mitigators outweigh aggravators? (pretty sure I spelled both of those wrong).....if they decide they do, then case over? Judge sentences Jimmy to life?

If not, then victim impact statements and ?????.....the judge decided life or death?

 

[Maisiebelle]

So....in this phase, jury will decide if mitigators outweigh aggravators? (pretty sure I spelled both of those wrong).....if they decide they do, then case over? Judge sentences Jimmy to life?

If not, then victim impact statements and ?????.....the judge decided life or death?

I think the jury would deliberate one more time to decide the sentence. If they can't all agree on the sentence the judge will give the shooter LWOP.


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[MissHaley]

Last week, Maisie posted the list of mitigators that can be used in CO. In Gb's closing, he read again what the law says can be used for mitigators. I can't find the list now but the law is clear & GB explained it very well.

It is NOT the fact that a person has a mental illness, it is if the mental illness reduced his capacity. He encouraged the jury to read what the law states.
""Brauchler argues that their(the defense) mitigating factor examples are practically a second closing argument.
"We're also encouraged in this instruction to blame Dr. Fenton and Dr. Feinstein," Brauchler said. "The biggest part is the mental illness. That's not enough. What our law could have said was serious mental illness means you can't be accountable &#8230; but that's not what the law states.
Brauchler starts to explain the law of the statutory mitigators and how mental illness is not in there."

Despite the outburst, I believe that this jury WILL read exactly what the law states & see the mental illness is not what the law states. The whole defense argument was the 'but for mental illness" but the law doesn't say that mental illness is the excuse.
http://www.9news.com/story/news/loc...ra-theater-shooting-sentencing-blog/30876977/

 

[turaj]

So....in this phase, jury will decide if mitigators outweigh aggravators? (pretty sure I spelled both of those wrong).....if they decide they do, then case over? Judge sentences Jimmy to life?

If not, then victim impact statements and ?????.....the judge decided life or death?

As I understand it if we move to phase three victim impact statements which could be lengthy...I guess James Holmes can have those statements too but really wonder what more his family can say and how many would really get up...usually those questions of 'do you still care" and "would you visit" are asked during phase 3 but the defense did that in phase 2. Then I believe it is the jury that ultimately recommends life or death and that is the point where I think and history shows it is very very hard even after a trial like this for all 12 to agree....they say in voir dire they can do it but when actually faced with it...well many have just not done it. I think this could end with lwop.

 

[MissHaley]

I wanted to add this from GB's closing.
"What we've heard from both state-appointed experts, it's whether or not [the diagnosis] impacts his capacity," Brauchler said."

from same link above.