Jury in James Holmes case reaches verdict, eligible for death penalty

Holmes confessed to walking into the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012, wearing protective gear and armed with an assault weapon, other guns and gas canisters.

The prosecution said Holmes took a decision to massacre, then hid his preparations from everyone.

Today the jurors voted unanimously towards “phase three” where they will decide if Holmes should be executed.

CNN reports that the third phase of the trial-the actual sentencing phase-could begin as soon as August 4. If at least one juror dissents, the sentence is life in prison.

Holmes, who is taking anti-psychotic drugs that boring his reactions, stood as ordered and appeared emotionless as the judge read the decisions.

The same jurors found Holmes guilty last month on 165 charges of murder and attempted murder, after an emotional 10-week trial. Holmes’s public defenders stood with him. They also argued that Holmes was fully aware of his objectives when he entered the theater and opened fire.

Holmes, wearing a blue button down shirt and khakis, listened to the latest verdict with his hands in his pockets. Arlene Holmes began to cry, and Robert held out a box of tissues for her. She leaned her head against his.

Afterward, the jury will decide if Holmes should spend his life in prison or die by lethal injection.

In Phase 1 of the penalty hearing on July 23, the jury found the gunman’s acts in the shooting that killed 12 people and injured 70 others carried aggravating factors, moving the case to Phase 2. Even though Holmes told his psychiatrist that he had homicidal thoughts, his parents testified that the doctor never passed that information to them. Holmes must not be allowed to use mental illness as a “shield”, the district attorney told the jury. Monday’s verdict shows that not a single juror spoke up.

“We are one step closer, ” Joshua Nowlan said outside court, adding that hes “very happy with the results.”.

“A number of jurors might feel, in their own personal judgements, that it would be wrong to sentence a mentally ill person to death”, Lane said. “At the very end, we’ll finally get the closure we all deserve”, he added.

Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed, said prosecutors advised her that she would testify Tuesday. Friends and coworkers may talk about the impact on the family.