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CENTENNIAL, Colo. — He said only fools would blame his murders on bad grades.

“Most fools will misinterpret correlation for causation, namely relationship and work failure as causes,” Aurora theater shooter James Holmes wrote in his infamous spiral notebok.

But Monday’s court proceedings indicated otherwise. The prosecution screened surveillance footage of the defendant purchasing weapons from a Gander Mountain sporting goods store mere hours after a dismal performance on his final oral exam, June 7, 2012.

The defendant, who now faces the death penalty for killing 12 people and injuring 70 during his violent attack on a crowded movie theater, sat quietly in his chair as the courtroom watched the grainy time-lapse video. In it, he has dark hair and spends about 30 minutes in the store.

After spending nearly $1,000 on a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic rifle, magazines and ammunition, he took the gun from the clerk’s hands. A different video angle shows Holmes being escorted out of the store, per company policy. 

Another surveillance video showed a repeat performance: on July 6, 2012, the defendant purchased a Glock handgun and ammunition from a Bass Pro Shop and was walked out of the store by an employee, per store policy.

This second video was notable because Holmes’ credit card was twice declined, forcing him to use a different one. He also wore a beige bucket hat, ostensibly to cover his newly-dyed red hair.

“Did you see his hair?” asked prosecutor Jacob Edson.

“No,” replied gun salesman Brian Pennington.

Both videos were screened following numerous objections from the defense. Public defender Rebekah Higgs won a few victories for her client — Judge Carlos Samour Jr. initially sustained her objections regarding Edson’s failure to lay foundations for the videos — but they were ultimately played for the court in their entirety.

Judge: ‘You can’t have it both ways’

Judge Samour took a hard line with the defense today regarding yet another video, this one even more controversial than the surveillance tapes. He said that what’s admissible for one side has to be admissible for the other, too.

The defense team has made it clear since the beginning of the trial that they intend to play footage from the defendant’s apparent psychotic episode in prison. In November, months after his July attack, the defendant began acting strangely in his cell. He licked walls, fell backwards off his bed and became uncooperative. When placed on suicide watch, he smeared feces around the cell.

The prosecution wants to play video footage from September, months after the shooting but before the shooter’s prison breakdown. They argue that it shows him behaving normally, demonstrating sanity.

But the defense claimed the video is irrelevant. They argued that, because it was taken months after the theater attack, it’s not representative of the shooter’s mindset at the time of his crime. They also said that it only tells part of the story. At 11 minutes long, it’s nowhere close to comprehensive — the defendant has now been in prison for almost three years.

Samour called foul.

“You can’t have it both ways,” he told the defense team. “There has been an assertion that the defendant’s mental state after the shooting, including up to November, is relevant to the sanity plea.”

Samour said that since both the September and November videos were recorded before the defendant was medicated, they were equally relevant to the question of his sanity. He also argued that the incomplete nature of the video was expected.

“All of these video clips are necessarily incomplete,” Samour said. “The defendant has been in prison for three years. Thus to watch truly comprehensive footage, we’d have to be here forever.”

Ultimately, Samour made it clear to the court that in at least one way, a capitol murder trial is a lot like life.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” he said.

And then there were 20

Also notable from Monday’s trial: Juror 901 has been dismissed. Last week, she told the court that her brother-in-law had been in an accident. The next day, she clarified: It wasn’t so much an accident, but an attack. In an attempted robbery at an ATM he was shot four times and hospitalized in critical condition.

Though her relative was treated at the same hospital as many of the shooting victims, location didn’t play a role in the juror’s dismissal. Samour cited fears that the attack would affect her ability to remain impartial.

Juror 901, a student at the University of Denver’s Korbel International School, appeared attentive throughout the trial. She took diligent notes and has notified the judge more than once about potential conflicts of interest. When she left the courtroom, forbidden from contacting any of her fellow jurors for the rest of the trial, a single tear shone on her cheek.

Tuesday’s trial will feature testimony from one of the most anticipated witnesses in the case: Holmes’ graduate school psychiatrist, Dr. Lynne Fenton. The accused killer sent a 29 page manifesto now known as The Notebook to Fenton just hours before he opened fire in the crowded theater. She is expected to testify before lunch.

Editor’s note: CU News Corps will honor the victims of this tragedy with every post via this graphic.