CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) – Prosecutors in the Colorado theater shooting are steadily moving toward the heart of their case: the testimony of two court-appointed doctors expected to say James Holmes was sane when he opened fire on a packed midnight showing of a Batman movie.
The first month of Holmes’ death penalty trial has been dominated by dramatic and emotional accounts of survivors, technical testimony from investigators, and the recollections of Holmes’ neuroscience professors and classmates, who said he never seemed detached from reality. But the next two weeks of their case will be more focused on Holmes’ mental health when he committed one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, District Attorney George Brauchler said.
Brauchler promised to show jurors days’ worth of interviews with Holmes by psychiatrists William Reid and Jeffrey Metzner. Both doctors determined Holmes suffered mental illness but was sane when he killed 12 people and injured 70 others, Brauchler said.
Holmes’ lawyers disagree, saying his mind was so distorted by schizophrenia that he could no longer tell right from wrong. They plan to call at least two doctors of their own who also interviewed Holmes and found he suffered a serious psychotic illness.
It will be the first glimpse into Holmes’ mental state during the shooting, as a far-reaching gag order has kept those details secret since the July 2012 attack.