Colorado Movie Theater Gunman Sentenced to Life in Prison

Twelve people were killed and 70 injured.

It didn’t take jurors long to swiftly convict James Holmes of murder last month for his assault on a Colorado movie theater.

The dissenter, juror 17 said, didn’t provide “exact reasoning” for her decision. It’s a devastating result no matter what. “I mean, for the families in there, you can’t bring life back”, said survivor Karen Gomez. They would have had to be unanimous for a death penalty to be imposed.

A forensic psychiatrist testified that the younger Holmes was “genetically loaded” for mental illness, as Robert Holmes’ father and twin sister had been hospitalized with mental illness.

Holmes was found guilty of 165 counts of murder and attempted murder by the jury after a 15-week trial.

He blamed himself for not getting a death sentence for the victims’ families. They say he killed to improve his self-worth. “She just said she couldn’t do it”.

Historically capital punishment has been used sparingly in Colorado; only one person has been executed in the Centennial State since the death penalty was reinstated four decades ago. After the hearing, the District Attorney George Brouchler met with the victims’ families and expressed his disappointment, reports Fox News. They were called upon to do things that a lot of people wouldn’t do. “They did their job with integrity and honor”, said Fields.

Jurors are now free to talk about the case but a court spokesman said none would speak Friday. In this image made from Colorado Judicial Department video, Defendant James Holmes, top left in tan shirt, defense attorneys, top left, and prosecuting attorneys watch as the jury exits the courtroom after d… More people would’ve died if it weren’t for Holmes’ weapon jamming, an AR-15 with 218 bullets unfired.

She and Veronica Moser-Sullivan’s mother-who was paralyzed in the shooting-could both be seen shaking their heads no as the sentence was read.

Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting have been dismissed after failing to agree on a sentence for gunman James Holmes. A total of 2,695 pieces of evidence were presented to the jury during the trial of the past three months. Jurors then determined earlier this week that the death penalty would be considered as a possible sentence, after concluding that Holmes had ambushed his victims and the aggravating factors in the case outweighed the mitigating factors.

Jury has returned to the courtroom and turned over sentencing documents to the Judge. The jury rejected his plea of insanity and found him guilty, but they had one last question to answer.

The jury agreed with prosecutors that Holmes, though mentally ill, was responsible for his actions.

Juror 17 said the issue of mental illness appeared to be the reason the juror refused to vote to sentence Holmes to death. Owens was sentenced to death in 2008 for killing two people in 2005. It will be announced at 5 p.m. But it was not unanimous on the death penalty.

The panel of nine women and three men asked for the 45-minute recording Friday morning. Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. set limits on the victims’ testimony, saying he would allow prosecutors to convey the magnitude of the crime without overwhelming jurors with emotion.

Before releasing them to deliberate, Samour imparted on jurors the weight of their task. The same jury rejected Holmes’ insanity defense, finding him capable of understanding right from wrong when he carried out the attack. The trial was unusual because, from the start, Holmes’ court-appointed lawyers had said they were not contesting that he was the sole shooter.