why does james holmes have a lawyer

What happens to James Holmes if he is found not guilty?

Jun 04, 2013 · James Holmes Claiims Insanity Holmes' attorneys believe investigators should not have been able to speak to Holmes after he asked for a lawyer, and that anything he said after that should not be ...

Who are James Holmes'parents?

At Holmes's murder trial, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. His defense attorneys are fighting for their client's life. They are doing this by admitting that Holmes is the one who committed one of the worst mass murders in United States history -- but that he did not know what he was doing at the time of the Aurora shooting and is not guilty by reason of the insanity …

Should Holmes have to pay with his life?

Aug 20, 2018 · AP James Holmes, center, appears in court with, left to right, defense attorneys Daniel King, Katherine Spengler, and Kristen Nelson, for the sentencing phase in his trial, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015 ...

Who is James Eagan Holmes?

Jul 23, 2015 · Holmes who had pleaded not guilty by reasons of insanity, but admitted to the killings, showed no reaction as the verdict was announced. His attorneys were pushing for him to be committed to a...

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Jun 05, 2015 · The capital murder trial of James Eagan Holmes has, for more than a week, been taking a jury inside the “broken” mind of a young man who really didn’t like other people. Prosecutors say ...

What happens if James Holmes is found guilty?

If they are successful, James Holmes will be found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a mental health facility where he will remain until mental health officials determine that he is no longer a danger to the public safety. That could mean he will be, in effect, locked up for life. If the defense attorneys fail, Holmes will be sent ...

How many bullet holes did James Holmes have?

When James Holmes walked into a crowded theater in Aurora, Colorado, and opened fire, he left in his wake an auditorium marred by more than 240 bullet holes, and moviegoers whose lives were irrevocably changed by the horror, as more than 70 people were injured and 12 more lay dead. At Holmes’s murder trial, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

What percentage of inmates have mental health problems?

Download. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 61 percent of state prison inmates with a current or past violent offense have a mental health problem. Up to 20 percent of all inmates have symptoms of serious mental illness, including 15 percent of state prison inmates exhibiting signs of psychotic disorder.

What is the defense trying to show the jury?

While prosecutors are attempting to show the jury the heinousness of the crime through grisly crime scene photos and emotional witness testimony, the defense is trying to suppress this kind of evidence and turn attention away from the human toll, and instead focus on Holmes’s state of mind at the time of the shooting.

Is mental illness a guilty verdict?

It is not “not guilty by reason of mental illness.”. While states have used different measures for assessing the legal standard for insanity, most use the M’Naghten test, which asks the jury to consider whether the defendant knew right from wrong at the time of the act.

Did Jonathan Schmitz kill Scott Amedure?

It didn’t work for Jonathan Schmitz, who used his alleged insanity as a “gay panic defense” after he killed his friend Scott Amedure after Amedure revealed a same-sex crush on Schmitz on the talk show “Jenny Jones .”. And it didn’t work for Jeffrey Dahmer or John Wayne Gacy, prolific serial killers whose efforts to cover their crimes indicated they ...

Who interviewed James Holmes?

There will never be a satisfying answer, but one of the court-appointed psychiatrists in the Aurora theater shooting trial tries to clear up some myths in a new book, "A Dark Night in Aurora.". Dr. William Reid interviewed James Holmes for 22 hours over multiple days.

What is the current explanation of James Holmes's tragic behavior?

No current explanation of James Holmes’s tragic behavior withstands routine scientific tests of replicability and predictability. Examining people with his diagnosis, with his family and social background, his medications, his culture or race, doesn't work. Every effort to tease out a group from which we can recognize perpetrators and prevent incidents like the one in Aurora fails. Each creates a scenario in which hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of people with the same characteristics don’t kill anyone, much less a dozen people. A confluence of many factors led to Holmes’s killings, of course, but when those factors are statistically replicated by social researchers, or their population cohorts are followed prospectively for years, very, very few killers are found.

Who predicted that mentally ill people would die with their rights on?

Decades ago, Harvard professor of psychiatry and law Dr. Alan Stone foresaw situations in which many severely mentally ill patients, whom the law increasingly allowed to refuse much-needed psychiatric care in the name of their civil rights, would “die with their rights on.”. His prediction has come to pass.

When did James Holmes appear in court?

The public gets its first glimpse of James Holmes, then 24, the suspect in the Colorado theater shooting during his initial court appearance July 23, 2012. With his hair dyed reddish-orange, Holmes, here with public defender Tamara Brady, showed little emotion.

Who are James Holmes' parents?

In court, Holmes swivels in his chair but otherwise shows little animation. He parents sit stoically, several rows back. His father, Robert, a mathematician with degrees from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, chews on his fingernails.

What was James Holmes's notebook about?

James Holmes' notebook lists pros and cons of crime. Holmes wrote in his notebook that he studied neurology in college and grad school in a failed attempt to fix his own “broken mind.”. His childhood was haunted by night terrors in which “Nail Ghosts” hammered on the walls.

How much is Holmes' life capital?

By the end of the movie theater shooting, Holmes believed he had raised his “life capital” to 13, while an ordinary person’s would simply be worth a single point. “The dead can’t be repaired,” he told Reid. “It’s kind of irreversible.”.

Who is the man who killed eight men?

The capital murder trial of James Eagan Holmes has, for more than a week, been taking a jury inside the “broken” mind of a young man who really didn’t like other people. Prosecutors say Holmes should pay with his life for the killings of eight men, three women and a little girl at a Colorado movie theater nearly three years ago.

Who killed 12 people?

James Holmes is accused of killing 12, wounding 70 at a movie theater in July 2012. Holmes said he knew killing was wrong but needed "points" from each slain victim. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; expert says he was rational. Centennial, Colorado CNN —.

What is the biggest issue in James Holmes case?

So it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the James Holmes’ case. Clearly the biggest issue now is the sanity of Holmes at the time of the murder.

Who is the judge for the Holmes murder trial?

Holmes' attorney admits his client was the shooter, but he claims Holmes was in the middle of a psychotic episode when he committed the massacre. Judge Carlos Samour is overseeing jury selection, and it's expected to last months.

Why was Goldstein not subject to liability?

Goldstein claimed he was not subject to liability because the father told him of the threat rather than his patient. The court found Goldstein did not fulfill his duty to protect by either initiating an involuntary commitment for Colello or by warning the victim.

What condition is required to be proven in an insanity plea?

In order for an insanity plea to be accepted, it must be proven that the defendant suffered from a psychiatric condition, typically psychosis, at the time of the crime which impaired his ability to know right from wrong and to understand he was committing a crime. Again, this must be at the time the crime was committed.

Who did Gene Colello get therapy from?

Gene Colello sought therapy from David Goldstein after his girlfriend dumped him and began dating Keith Ewing. Colello confided to his father he was thinking about harming Ewing. The father told Goldstein, but no action was taken. Ultimately, Colello murdered Ewing before committing suicide.

Is Holmes' mental health report permanent?

This mental condition can be permanent or temporary, but a persistent psychiatric condition, as would appear to be the case here, is much easier to prove. Holmes' mental health report has been completed and delivered to the court and is currently being reviewed by both the prosecution and the defense.

Did James Holmes get the death penalty?

Jury selection began recently for the murder trial of James Holmes. Holmes freely admits he opened fire in a packed Colorado movie theater, though he is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. However, the prosecution is adamant—they are going for the death penalty.

Was James Holmes sane?

– Defense attorneys trying to spare the life of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes turned Monday to a court-appointed psychiatrist who previously testified for prosecutors that Holmes was legally sane during the 2012 attack but his mental illness led him to open fire.

Can Holmes be sentenced to life in prison?

The defense hopes that will persuade jurors to sentence Holmes to life in prison without parole instead of to death. "Having psychosis doesn't take away your capacity to make choices. It may increase your capacity to make bad choices," Metzner testified Monday.

What did Holmes testify about?

William Reid, a court-appointed psychiatrist who interviewed Holmes for a total of about 22 hours, testified that Holmes was mentally ill but legally sane, diagnosing him as having schizotypal personality disorder, which is characterized by constricted behavior and difficulties relating to others. From Wikipedia.

Can a jurist say "excuses in the eyes of the law"?

If you interpret "explain" as "excuses in the eyes of the law", a jurist would say no. According to Wikipedia (which does not cite any ref for this) Most courts accept a major mental illness such as psychosis but will not accept the diagnosis of a personality disorder for the purposes of an insanity defense.

Did Fenton tell Arlene Holmes about her son's homicidal obsession?

Fenton was alarmed enough to violate Holmes' health privacy rights and call his mother, Arlene. But Fenton did not tell Arlene Holmes about her son's homicidal obsession, instead mentioning that he'd dropped out of school. The documents show that Fenton found Holmes' mother's reaction reassuring.