CENTENNIAL | Lawyers for Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes are trying to clear away legal questions Thursday so that Holmes can plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
Holmes’ lawyers will ask the judge to answer whether state laws on the insanity plea and the death penalty work in combination to violate Holmes’ constitutional rights.
They want answers before Holmes agrees to conditions he must accept in order to enter an insanity plea.
Holmes is accused of opening fire on a packed movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora in July, killing 12 people and injuring 70. He faces multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
An insanity plea is widely seen as Holmes’ best chance of avoiding execution. But his lawyers delayed it for weeks, saying his rights could be jeopardized.
One concern: If Holmes pleads insanity but doesn’t cooperate during a mental health evaluation, his lawyers would not be able to call witnesses to testify about his mental health during a penalty phase of the trial. Holmes’ attorneys contend the law doesn’t clearly define what cooperation is.
They also want more information about the mental exam Holmes would be subject to.
Holmes needs the court’s permission to change his plea because a judge entered a standard not guilty plea on his behalf in March. The judge is likely to approve the change, but Holmes would first have to agree to the conditions, including the requirement that he cooperate during the mental evaluation.
Once the insanity plea is formally accepted, Holmes would undergo an evaluation by state doctors to determine whether he was insane at the time of the shootings. Court proceedings would be on hold until the evaluation is completed, which could take months.
Colorado law defines insanity as the inability to distinguish right from wrong, caused by a diseased or defective mind.
If jurors find Holmes not guilty by reason of insanity, he would be committed indefinitely to the state mental hospital. He could eventually be released if doctors find his sanity has been restored, but that is considered unlikely.
If they convict him, the next step is the penalty phase, during which both sides call witnesses to testify about factors that could affect why Holmes should or shouldn’t be executed.
The jury would then decide whether Holmes should be executed or be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.