Aurora Theater Gunman James Holmes Sentenced to Life in Prison

One female juror later told reporters that there was no way to resolve the disagreement on what the sentence should be.

“I think this is just a no-win situation”.

She said the graphic nature of the evidence made the 15-week trial very hard. “It’s the disappointment of hearing it in those soft sobs and those moans of those family members of the people we can’t ever see again”. Holmes will be taken to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo for evaluation and is expected to be returned to Arapahoe County Jail on August 2.

February 19, 2014 – Judge Samour orders Holmes to undergo an additional sanity examination, saying there was good cause to believe previous testing was “incomplete and inadequate”, according to a ruling. Official sentencing was scheduled for August 24-26. – Robert Sullivan, grandfather of 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the youngest victim of the attack. But, they also did not elect to sentence him to be the fourth person on Colorado death row.

District Attorney George Brauchler defended that decision Friday, declaring, “This guy went there in his heart with the intention to be the number one mass murderer in the history of this country, and he had the means to do it”.

“Nothing about the jury’s sentence changes what happened to them or how it impacts their families”, Brauchler said.

Prosecutors say Holmes aimed to slaughter all 400 theater goers. Phillips said that she and her husband have always said they didn’t care whether the killer got life or death. Brauchler said the defense refused to let Holmes be examined by a state psychiatrist or release a notebook in which he detailed his reasons for the attack. Earlier this week, families of victims were given the opportunity to testify before the court on the impact that the loss of their loved ones had on their lives.

Hoover said he will live by the words A.J.’s mother shared before she passed away during the trial, “Tomorrow the sun will come up”. To choose capital punishment, they must be unanimous, said another Denver defense attorney, Karen Steinhauser. “He’s living, he’s breathing”.

After members of the jury determined that Holmes was legally sane, they couldn’t agree to recommend the death penalty.

But Assistant Public Defender Tamar Brady disagreed, arguing before the jurors began their deliberations that “justice without mercy is raw vengeance.” His attorneys left court without commenting.

“In this case, two mitigating factors that the statute has are: ‘Is mental illness a major part of this?’ Mental illness that was not enough to create an insanity defense, but is so significant that his life should be spared”. The same jury rejected Holmes’ insanity defense, finding him capable of understanding right from wrong when he carried out the attack.

In July, Holmes was convicted on 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and an explosives charge over the shootings in Aurora, Colorado.

The case was also about the 70 – the ones who are paralyzed or walk with canes or wear bullet scars in their arms, legs, torsos and backs. Later, police find booby-trapped bombs and a Batman mask at Holmes’ apartment.