Sick juror delays theater shooting sentencing

An alternate juror in the Colorado theater shooting trial showed up in court wearing a Metallica T-shirt with the image of a man being electrocuted.

Judge Carlos Samour, who is presiding over the trial, had expressly forbidden the publication of the identities of the members of the jury to protect their confidentiality and guarantee that they would not be placed under any external pressure in a case that has sparked great media attention in the United States. The same jurors convicted him last week of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the July 2012 attack.

Newsweek wrote the juror’s name in a story, and then tweeted a link to that story with the juror’s name in it, saying he “never took his eyes off” Holmes when the guilty verdict was read in the case on July 16. The juror’s name was included in both the tweet and the linked story.

In phase one, jurors had to decide whether there were aggravating factors for the death penalty. The juror in question complained about it to Samour on Wednesday. The defense had asked him to do so, and the prosecution did not disagree with the defense’s request.

He said Newsweek editors told court staff in advance of his ban that they have no plans to physically be in the courtroom going forward. “I want her to get better”, the judge said.

The Twitter message was not eliminated until Wednesday, the same day that the judge prohibited Newsweek journalists from entering the courtroom.

Jurors are hearing arguments on whether Holmes should be sentenced to death or life in prison.