Drier eyes for first time in weeks at Aurora theater shooting trial
May 4, 2015
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CENTENNIAL, Colo. — When the gunman of the Aurora theater shooting was booked for interviewing, he passed two signs on the way into the questioning room. The signs read: (1) Crimes Against Children Unit, and (2) Victims Services Unit.
“There weren’t any children hurt, were there?” the gunman asked a detective hours later when questioning finally began.
The prosecution in this case must prove that the defendant, James Holmes, was sane beyond reasonable doubt at the time of July 2012 shooting that left 12 people dead and 70 injured.
A few minutes of the defendant’s interview was shown in court Monday as part of Detective Chuck Mehl’s testimony. In the video, Holmes replied to officers’ questions with answers that corresponded appropriately. Mehl, a 24-year veteran of the force, described Holmes’ behavior as he awaited questioning less about 14 hours after his detainment.
The gunman finished a bottle of water, sat the empty bottle upright on the table and put an empty plastic cup upside-down on the edge of it. He then repetitively tried to land the cup on the plastic bottle by flipping the cup’s edge upward with his fingertips (like the motion in the game of Flip Cup).
In addition to this video footage, audio of the shooter’s call to the University of Colorado Health was played to the courtroom. The call lasted 18 seconds long and was received at 12:31 a.m. on July 20, about eight to nine minutes before the first 911 calls were received in response to the shooting.
Today’s proceedings featured witness statements far less emotionally provocative than those of last week, if measured by the number of tears shed in the courtroom, which were — if not entirely absent — close to none.
Yet other things remained consistent with previous days of the trial: two snipers stood on the rooftop of the Arapahoe County Justice Center; media members, victims, and victims’ families filled the audience; and the defendant’s lawyers continued to objective to the nature of the descriptions of victim injuries.
District Attorney George Brauchler vowed to include every victim in the prosecution’s presentation of evidence, but the way these victims’ injuries are described is being debated.
“How do we fairly and accurately describe the injury to the jury?” asked Judge Carlos Samour.
Defense attorney Kristen Nelson argued that extensive, detailed descriptions of injuries cause “risk of unfair prejudice [which] outweighs probative value.” She requested victims provide a brief testimony about the nature and severity of their injuries, and nothing further. The defense, she reminded the court, is not arguing whether the events of that day were at the hand of the defendant on trial.
The judge ruled that the following details will continue to be allowed to be shared by victims:
- Description of the wound
- The medical diagnosis
- Whether hospitalization was required and for how long
- Medical treatments/procedures required
- Result/aftermath of injury
Editor’s Note: CU News Corps will remember the victims of the tragedy with every post via this graphic.