In looking at the increasingly frequent and horrific episodes of people opening fire in a movie theater, a classroom, a college campus or a shopping mall, the immediate and regular assumptions are that the shooter has to be mentally ill.
Who but a crazy person could kill so many innocent people for no good reason?
But in every recent incident where the shooter actually survived his massacre, prosecutors fight to prove that the murderer was anything but “insane.”
That’s the case here in Aurora where James Holmes’ attorneys hope to persuade a jury that the admitted murderer was so mentally ill, that he can’t be held accountable for plotting and carrying out the July 20 Aurora theater slaughter.
From what we know already about Holmes, there’s little doubt that at the time of the massacre, he had serious psychological problems. And the entire country is keenly interested in seeing how the trial plays out. How sick does Holmes have to be proved to win an insanity defense? There is no doubt that all of Aurora, all of the nation needs to see this trial for themselves. The nuance, the subtleties and ploys each side uses to win the case will have bearing on future massacre trials for years to come. And sadly, since the country refuses to take these massacres seriously enough to work to prevent them, there is no doubt there will be more to come.
But anyone who doesn’t take the time to attend the trial next year probably won’t see any of the complicated parts of the court case unfold. Both defense and prosecution lawyers in the case are opposing a request by the media to televise the trial. Defenders say witnesses will play for the camera, skewing the trial. Prosecutors say the recording will be used to taunt victims in the case. Both arguments ring hollow. The trial will be flooded with reporters and observers, replaying every moment and word, but it will be the media’s interpretation of testimony and courtroom reaction.
As a society, we must weigh the horrific nature of these massacres with restricting the our rights to firearms and security. We must determine a modern definition of insanity and weigh what that determination means in criminal courts. But to do something so critical and far-reaching, Aurora and the nation must have an unparalleled understanding of how and why Holmes came to unleash his lethal arsenal inside an Aurora theater. Like almost never before, a video camera in the courtroom is critical to not only ensuring a fair trial for Holmes, but that the trial is fair to the public in its need to understand what justice will mean in this case and future cases like it. Arguments against a televised Holmes trial pale in comparison to the American public’s compelling and overwhelming need to see this vital case unfold for itself. The entire country is the jury that will decide where we go from here. Anything less is less than justice served.
I think we owe the victims and victims’ families privacy in this trial. The worst moment of their lives replayed for the country is only a sick attempt for ratings. Cameras in the courtroom will not ensure a fair trial and will only be fodder for tabloids and potential copy cats. Spend some time writing about the lives that were lost or horribly affected if you truly want to make a difference and work to prevent this in the future. Sensationalizing murderers only serves to promote them and encourage copy cats. Haven’t you learned this yet?
The media is in business to make money off of these types of incidents.
Please don’t sell more ad space on the survivors of this horrific tragedy. Cover the story, tell what the emotional faces of the mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers say about the pain of watching the shooter’s act be recreated or explained away. Don’t publicize the shooter, or exploit the survivors.
Show respect. No cameras in the courtroom.
Recording the trial with possibility of being shown snippets later is a very different idea than having every news network descend upon the town. The rights of the families of the victims outweighs what “the country” thinks it should be entitled to see. The only item of news from this trial will be the verdict.
What “recent incident where the shooter actually survived his massacre” are you talking about? There are no “recent incidents’ in our entire history “where the shooter actually survived” that compares to the sensationalism and complexity of this case. The people are asking for the death penalty therefore his only defense is an insanity plea. Unlike the O.J. Simpson televised spectacle that lasted 15 months, spotlighted the ineptness of the judge, prosecutor, and police force and cost the tax payers of Los Angeles over ten million, there was no death penalty on the table and there were only two victims, not 82. To see a death penalty case to its conclusion in Colorado takes over twenty years (google Aurora’s other mass killing), ten million will be a drop in the bucket. It is like a reverse Robin Hood take from the poor (tax payers) and give to the rich (news media conglomerates). Incredibly, Aurora already has two (2) mass murders to it’s credit which makes it number one in the country per capita and per body count. Are you sure that you want a mega media event that will lay your city you open to world scrutiny?
While the smoke was still clearing and the smell of gunpowder and blood was still in the air as the police were trying to pick through the blood and brain matter to distinguish the wounded from the dead, my daughter, Jessica Redfield Ghawi was one of the chosen ones who got to ride in the police car because she was still breathing. She died on the way to the hospital, but she did not have to lie along with eleven innocents who spent the night on the theater floor waiting to be identified, and for that, my wife and I are thankful. We have talked to numerous and highly respected mental health professionals and the common thread that all of them agree to is going on a killing spree is an attractive option for someone who is suicidal and angry at the world. When life does not meet their expectations they become enraged.
The American media has provided a stage for these rampage killers. by turning them into celebrities
“Letter To The Defense Initiative Victim Outreach Concerning Court Order D-137a Re: The People Of The State Of Colorado V. James Eagan Holmes”
July 23, 2014
Dear Sirs,
I have been working as a self-employed paralegal on the case, “The People Of The State Of Colorado V. James Eagan Holmes”. I have come across a Court Order 137a, regarding the Defense motion for sanctions against prosecutions due to a letter sent to the victim-witnesses that was apparently defamatory against Defense counsel and also the DVO agent named Tammy Krause. I have some questions regarding the program, “The National Association Of Prosecutor Coordinators”, and why they are dead set against the DIVO program.
Anything you may be able to offer out of your station would be greatly appreciated.
My first question is, did you ever hear about the NAPC before it was cited as an authority in the Court Order?
My second question is, could you tell me what you know about this association?
My third question is, was the DIVO program aware that District Attorneys had complained about DIVO agents traumatizing victim witnesses? This is something the Court stated to justify its denial of Motion For Sanctions, D-137a.
I am asking these questions because the Court states that this association has complained about the DIVO program to the President of the United States, and came out with a position paper concerning the DIVO program around 2009. The Court utilizes this negative opinion by this association as a justification to determine that the prosecution acted in “good faith” by utilizing seemingly negative words against the DIVO agent Dr. Krause.
I have just glimpsed the Court Order at this time. Outside of obvious flaws in the Order such as the total lack of citations besides the NAPC reference, Samour states that the deputy District Attorney Teesch-Macguire was justified because in a few of the letters to the victim-witnesses Dr. Krause neglected to state her job was Defense-related, and therefore willingly deceptive for the victim-witnesses. In spite of Court’s assertion to the contrary, Dr. Krause stated this very clearly in her first letter in February 2013, and there was no need to repeat it. There was no confusion. Also, Court stated that Dr. Krause neglected to tell victim-witnesses that what they said could be used in court, although in the sentences right before this presumed neglect, Dr. Krause promised victim-witnesses that nothing would get to the press – there was another promise such as this – and these promises are binding on the DIVO concerning using their conversations in Court. This is something that Samour simply either didn’t know, or he completely ignored, in order to come to his very unreasonable response. Finally, Samour played reckless in comparing the DA obligations concerning the protection of the Victim’s rights with a Victim’s Rights Attorneys and legal representation of a victim in Court. He did this in order to refute the conflict of interest complaint concerning the double role of victim’s advocate as a DA, and the victim’s representative, not to mention the DA’s role as sovereign representative in court. This issue of the binding statement concerning using statements in the press could be one example of this difference. Dr. Krause could be sued if she didn’t keep her promise, and it wouldn’t be the DA who would be representing the victims here.
When I read the Court Order, I was shocked that it cited such an obscure program as the NAPC in order to determine that Defense was unjustified in its complaints. So I looked into the NAPC, and I still can’t tell what it is. Someone says he believes it is a Japanese thing, and if this is true, the Court was not allowed to cite it as a standard for its decision. The reason why this one attorney believes it is Japanese is because it has no contact number on its headquarter website. which is apparently a signature for clandestine Japanese operations. Also, it seems to hide its operations behind legitimate programs, instead of having autonomous regional offices anywhere in the U.S. If you look at the website, you will see that virtually all of its regional contacts and offices are actually legitimate offices such as District Attorney and Prosecutors’ regional or state organizations, some of them with NAPC attached to them. If you look at the top of the website, you will see a glaringly sloppy title with two very obviously mispelled words, which could send a message that the writer of the headline was not a native English speaker.
Also, the NAPC website has links to other offices that have a weird link identified as this NAPC website, when in fact the link goes to a weird Japanese website, all in Japanese, with no title, no contact email or number, and that talks about public service nursing programs. I have found two links already, and I am still looking. Two at this time is sufficient to determine that it is not an accident. Two that I have listed are the “South Carolina Commission On Prosecutor Coordinators”, and “The California District Attorneys Association”.
This one attorney states that if the NAPC is in fact not an American organization, this establishes solid evidence that Samour is not an attorney or a judge, but a fraud. This calls for dismissal of the case and James’ release.
I am a homeless person, but I am working to get James out of jail. I have solid evidence that he is innocent, and that he has been railroaded in a malicious prosecution, false charges and wrongful arrest. James simply could not have done the shooting as it stands, and all the legal players in the trial are ignoring the facts in order to see James dead.
I will list easy facts that determine James is innocent:
1) Cinemark is a huge corporation, with very high tech and expensive equipment. First, an escrow insurance coverage would not be viable for loss of such holdings, therefore a regulated insurance carrier, either captive or commercial would be mandatory, and the coverage for loss would require security alarms to be installed on all its operations. There is no way in hell anyone could have acted alone to walk through the emergency exit without being seen, as there would have to have been a security alarm. A cell phone video of the night of the shooting picked up on another emergency exit open with an alarm going. Cinemark was lying through its teeth.
2) There is no way anyone who hasn’t trained intensely for years to have shot one-hundred rounds of ammunition without his fingers freezing up. Probably for James, the maximum shots would have been twenty, regardless of the gun.
3) Police report that they walked up to James outside of the theater and asked him if he was alone, and he said, yes, and there was a bomb in his apartment. After reportedly unloading one-hundred rounds of gunfire five minutes prior to this, James having any kind of hearing ability is absolutely impossible. He would have been deaf.
4) Police report James’ id had his current address on it. James had just moved into the apartment less than ten days before the shooting. That he would have gone over so quickly to expedite a change of address on his driver’s license is highly unlikely.
Cinemark loaded all its explanation under the rubric of liablity issues, without covering for the problem of loss coverage. This is evidence that they are lying and coverning up something. Cinemark claims that they had no security personnel during the week, while all their theaters have midnight movies throughout the week. A heist of digital projectors, computers, and other equipment would take less than ten minutes. This is a serious risk that no viable corporation would be willing to take.
The NAPC’s position appears to be that Defense simply does not need to be so empowered by any innovation such as the DIVO program, which worked with the ambition of “Restorative Justice”, something that simply is not going to pose any sort of threat to a functioning District Attorney or prosecutor. The statements by the Court clued me into the idea that NAPC is more than likely interested in destroying our Criminal Justice System in order to more fully establish terror authority in this country and to destroy our Constitutional Rights. This also helps to convince me that it is not an American institution, but one set up in a very clandestine manner by a barbarian nation.
I also believe that the Court has lied concerning these presumed complaints by District Attorneys regarding actions taken with victim-witnesses by DIVO agents. I am trying to find out about this. I just can’t believe any legitimate District Attorney would be at all concerned about Defense outreach to victims.
I may be writing more soon. I wanted to inquire with your office about these initial questions.
Anything you can offer here would be greatly appreciated. I know James is innocent. We talk a lot, every day. James wants a public trial, he wants to fire his attorneys, and he wants to plead Not Guilty By Reason Of Alibi. Nobody in Aurora is listening to him. James reports that my petitions concerning these issues got to Samour, and he called James into his chamber and raped him, and told him that nothing was going to change. In this manner, Samour was able to deflect any more complaints that James had wanted to change anything regarding his trial.
Thank-you very much.
Sincerely,
Susan Frances Smith
James Holmes is innocent. This trial is so full of phony attorneys phony judges and phony evidence that Samour and the DA forgot themselves recently when challenged on the issue of controlling the witness testimony and blocking it from the defense. (Motion D-137a, Response D-137a, Order D-137a) The complaint was about the Prosecution subtly telling the witnesses not to talk to the Defense liason, or the Defense at all in an email. In their effort to defend their position, Prosecution repeated over and over that the witnesses were always told that they could talk freely to anyone they wanted about the case. This included press, their friends, whoever. This totally renders void the gag order that presumably has kept everyone involved in the case silent. Read it for yourself. It’s a joke of a trial. The problem is that James is an innocent man and he is being brutalized in jail. The Defense team is ignoring all the evidence of his innocence, and the DA is doing the same. Forensics evidence is non-existent, as the chain of custody has been totally ignored in the evidence collection, as in the notebook farce. Lynn Fenton has never even met James, and she isn’t a psychiatrist. James needs to be released and the players in this horrible scam need to be rounded up an hung.
James needs to be released before he dies there. The world is being encouraged to look at this trial in total ignorance of the facts. Anyone could figure it out if they just thought about what happened. James couldn’t have done it.
Thanks.
Susan Smith