Jury agrees: Possible death for James Holmes

The jury only had to find one of those “aggravating” factors valid in order to make Holmes eligible for the death penalty.

In convicting Holmes of the mass shooting, jurors had already rejected his original insanity plea and found him guilty on all 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and explosives charges.

Jurors began deliberating Thursday on the second phase of how to proceed with sentencing. The jury took Friday off and resumed deliberations Monday.

Had the jury not decided to move to phase three of the sentencing, Holmes would have automatically been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed, said prosecutors advised her that she would be testifying on Tuesday. With each unanimous “yes”, it became ever more clear that jurors did not believe their testimony outweighed their son’s crimes.

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

But District Attorney George Brauchler said Holmes’ mental illness isn’t enough to outweigh the horror of the crime, which left 12 dead and 70 others wounded.

After deliberating for less than half a day, the panel of nine women and three men said they had reached the decision unanimously.

“I’m a little overwhelmed, but at the same time my job is to share Jessie with the jury, and I will do that to the best of my ability”, she said outside the courthouse. Their quick decision on Monday raised expectations that they will choose a death sentence after what prosecutors estimate will be two or three more days of testimony from survivors. In that phase, they will hear from victims’ families and decide whether Holmes should live or die.

And, Brauchler said, Holmes acted rationally in the lead up to the shooting.

“I’m going to be watching the jury closely”, Samour said.

During the sentencing phase, the defense called a court-appointed psychiatrist who previously testified for the prosecution that Holmes knew the difference between right and wrong and was therefore legally sane.

The 27-year-old former University of Colorado neuroscience researcher faces either life in prison or the death penalty in the final phase of the trial that began in April.

“But for this mental illness, that shooting would not have occurred”, public defender Tamara Brady told the jury, noting that every doctor who examined Holmes said he was seriously mentally ill.

In an eerie notebook introduced as evidence in his trial, Holmes laid out his plans of attack, diagnosed himself with a litany of mental problems and wrote that he hid the depths of his problems – and his homicidal plans – from everyone.