Woman Interrupts James Holmes Trial

In this image made from Colorado Judicial Department video, James Holmes, second from left in white shirt, stands with his defense team during the sentencing phase of the Colorado theater shooting trial in C…

The lawyers’ arguments came midway through a sentencing hearing that asks the jury to make a milestone decision about how Holmes killed 12 people and wounded 70 more in a movie theater massacre: Did the mitigating factors outweigh the aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt? The court accepted James Holmes plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and has ordered a sanity evaluation at the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo. “She’s the surrogate. They took him away from me”, she shouted, before saying something undecipherable.

Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office(CENTENNIAL, Colo.) – The jury in the James Holmes murder trial went home Friday now without reaching a decision with plans to continue deliberation on Monday.

The sentencing phase of convicted Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes was briefly interrupted Thursday. Jurors are due in court at 11:30 a.m. for closing arguments and then are expected to begin deliberations.

Officials say the woman is not Holmes’ mother, but a homeless woman who had been in the courtroom for several days.

He said he was holding her in contempt of court, noting deputies had cautioned her about how to behave when she attended the trial earlier in the week.

“He never would have purchased all of those guns and all of that ammunition, and this heartbreaking tragedy would never have occurred”, she said. “It’s not his fault”, she added as three deputies pulled her out of the room, kicking and screaming. It all happened off-camera and it wasn’t immediately clear to those watching outside who she was. Next, they must decide whether there are reasons to spare Holmes’ life, including his mental illness.

Jurors will decide if his mental illness or other factors should allow him to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Brauchler told the jury that even if Holmes stopped after killing three people, or six or 10, his crime would still be so heinous that the death penalty would be appropriate.

The judge in the Colorado theater shooting trial is giving instructions to the jury to guide their deliberations in the next step of the sentencing phase. For Thursday’s closing arguments, Holmes’ parents dressed casually in court.

“Mental Illness can strike like cancer, without regard to your background, without regard to your status in life, without regard to how intelligent you are”. If the jury finds there wasn’t enough mitigation evidence to sentence Holmes to life, the sentencing phase will move onto a third segment, during which prosecutors will call on the family of the victims to testify.

The judge reminded jurors that they already agreed that aspects of his crimes justify capital punishment, including the fact that he killed multiple people, created a grave risk of death to others, acted in a cruel or depraved manner and laid in wait for his victims.

They have also determined that aggravating factors were proved which could justify the death penalty, unless the defense can persuade them that mitigating factors are more important.