Closing arguments to begin in Colorado theater shooting case
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Attorneys in the Colorado theater shooting trial will have one last chance today to convince jurors that gunman James Holmes was either a cold, calculating killer or a man so overcome by psychosis that he could no longer tell right from wrong.
Closing arguments in the first phase of Holmes' death penalty trial were expected later this afternoon, nearly three years to the day since he slipped into a darkened midnight movie premiere and opened fire, killing 12 and wounding 70 others.
The arguments were scheduled to start in the morning but were delayed after the defense said some of the slides prosecutors planned to show jurors were improper. District Attorney George Brauchler defended the images.
Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. sent the jury to lunch while he weighed the objections.
Dozens of victims and family members were in the courtroom, and some wept as Samour read the names of the dead and wounded while he gave the jury his instructions. Sandy Phillips wore a green scarf that belonged to her daughter, Jessica Ghawi, who was killed.