(8 Aug 2015) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus036116
It didn't take jurors long to swiftly convict James Holmes of murder last month for his assault on a Colorado movie theater. Then they spent less than three hours deliberating before finding that his mental illness did not outweigh the heinousness of his crimes.
But when it came time to decide whether to sentence him to death on Friday, at least one juror balked.
As a result, James Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison for the 2012 attack that killed 12 and injured 70 during the midnight screening of a Batman movie. Nine jurors wanted to execute Holmes, but one was steadfastly opposed and two others wavering, a juror told reporters after the verdict was announced.
"Mental illness played into the decision more than anything else," said the woman, who would not give her name. "All the jurors feel so much empathy for the victims. It's a tragedy."
The verdict shocked the courtroom. Holmes' mother, Arlene, who had begged jurors to spare his life, leaned her head against her husband's shoulder and began sobbing. In the back, Aurora police officers who responded to the bloody scene of Holmes' attacks began crying.
Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed by Holmes, shook her head no and then held it in her hands. Ashley Moser, whose 6-year-old daughter died in the attack and who was herself paralyzed by Holmes' bullets, also shook her head and then slowly leaned it against the wheelchair of another paralyzed victim, Caleb Medley.
Families of victims began to leave the courtroom as Judge Carlos Samour Jr. continued reading the verdict. Their wails were audible through the closed courtroom doors.
As in previous proceedings, Holmes, who is on anti-psychotic medication that dulls his responses, showed no reaction. His attorneys left court without commenting.
The verdict was also a setback for District Attorney George Brauchler, who two years ago rejected a plea deal from Holmes' attorney that would have ended the case with life in prison, the same result. Brauchler said the defense refused to let Holmes be examined by a state psychiatrist or release a notebook in which he detailed his reasons for the attack. Holmes' subsequent videotaped psychiatric exams were played at trial and the notebook entered into evidence.
Defense attorneys argued Holmes' schizophrenia led to a psychotic break, and powerful delusions drove him to carry out one of the nation's deadliest mass shootings.
Victims were devastated by the outcome. "We just have to deal with it and accept it," said Robert Sullivan, whose 6-year-old granddaughter Veronia was Holmes' youngest victim. "He's living. He's breathing and our loved ones are gone. The gaping void we have for our granddaughter has been replaced with a new abscess of him living."
The verdict is the latest blow to the death penalty in Colorado, which has executed only one person since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the penalty in 1977. Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2013 said he would not carry out the scheduled execution of a man convicted of killing four at a Chuck E. Cheese in 1993.
There was never any question during the trial as to whether Holmes was the killer. He meekly surrendered outside the theater, where police found him clad head-to-toe in combat gear.
The trial hinged instead on the question of whether a mentally ill person should be held legally and morally culpable for an act of unspeakable violence.
It took jurors only about 12 hours of deliberations to decide the first part — they rejected his insanity defense and found him guilty of 165 felony counts.
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