Deliberations resume Monday in theater shooting trial

Holmes is accused of murder, attempted murder, weapons violations and other charges. And she reminded jurors that all four psychiatric experts who examined the gunman – even the experts hired by the court who found him legally sane – came to a strikingly similar diagnosis: Holmes suffers from some type of schizophrenia.

If the jury does not reach a verdict on mitigation before the end of yesterday, deliberations would resume on Monday after a day off today.

“He’s wrong, because mental illness is everything”, she shouted and then leaped over several rows moving in what looked like the direction of Holmes’ mother before deputies stopped her. She was still screaming as they pulled her from the court.

The jury made no decision on Thursday, though.

They met for about a half hour Thursday after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and the defense about whether Holmes’ mental illness or other reasons should lead them to sentence him to life in prison instead of death.

Defense attorneys say his mental illness was in his DNA at birth and began developing in his high school years. “Nobody in their right mind could plan the massacre of a theater full of human beings”. If they decide the death penalty is still an option, they would move to a final phase in which they would hear from victims and survivors.

“Well, then the court should have dignity of humanity and not have a death penalty”, Cave said.

Last week, jurors unanimously agreed that the 2012 attack was cruel enough to justify execution.

As examples, the judge said Holmes is asserting a series factors that point to mercy, including his age and emotional state at the time of the crime, his limited capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct, his cooperation with authorities, and any other evidence introduced by his defense.

Holmes told the judge on Wednesday that he will not testify or address the jury.

In this image made from Colorado Judicial Department video, Deborah Cave, center, in handcuffs and in the custody of sheriff’s deputies, appears before Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr., top second from right, who sentenced her to three weeks in jail for contempt of court for earlier climbing over seats and shouting during the closing argument of the prosecution in the James Holmes trial’s sentencing phase in Centennial, Colo., Thursday, July 30, 2015.

“Holmes was genetically loaded to experience a psychotic disorder”, given the extensive history of schizophrenia on his father’s side of the family, the defense said. Committing the attack was not an act he enjoyed or took pleasure in, and despite the horrific crime, Holmes has friends and family who continue to love and care about him, the defense argued.

They said his prescription drugs could have increased his mania before the attack, and that he seems stable and non-expressive now only because he’s on anti-psychotic medicine to stabilize incurable brain diseases.

Brauchler pointed out that Holmes was still functioning before the shooting.

“How many videos of him 8 years old and younger would it take to outweigh that horror?” he asked. Will a mass murderer be sentenced to death for his horrifying crime. “That happens later”. Can anything outweigh that? District Attorney George Brauchler countered, when it was his turn.