CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) – A jury’s refusal to sentence Colorado theater shooter James Holmes to die for one of the worst massacres in U.S. history doesn’t mean the public is growing wary of capital punishment, because only a single juror blocked his execution, the lead prosecutor said Friday.
The lone holdout felt just as strongly that Holmes should get a life sentence as the 11 other jurors believed he should die for the 2012 shooting, District Attorney George Brauchler said, based on prosecution interviews with some of the panel. Twelve people were killed and 70 others injured in the attack.
“They were surprised, shocked that this juror held this view, and this view, this adamantly,” he told The Associated Press in an interview one week after the jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on each murder count. Their indecision automatically eliminated the death penalty for Holmes, who blamed the attack on schizophrenia and psychotic delusions. He will instead be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The holdout hasn’t come forward to speak with prosecutors, but other jurors have said testimony about Holmes’ mental illness persuaded her to show mercy.
Death sentences in Colorado must be unanimous, and attorneys tell jurors that imposing death is their own personal, moral choice and to respect each other’s decisions.