Staff writer Brandon Johansson is reporting from Arapahoe County district court during jury selection for the Aurora theater shooting trial:
3:50 p.m.
CENTENNIAL | Another 47 jurors were released in the Aurora theater shooting Friday afternoon, bringing the total released so far to about 870.
Judge Carlos Samour Jr. reiterated this afternoon that he is leaning toward ending this initial phase of jury selection a few days early. Samour said Feb. 8 could be the last day of the first phase, instead of Feb. 11.
Prosecutors opposed shaving a few days off the initial phase, but the defense supported the idea.
Deputy District Attorney Rich Orman said he was worried jurors who initially said serving wouldn’t be a hardship will change their mind when they have a few weeks to think about it.
Orman said he has been surprised at how many jurors have said serving on a five-month trial wouldn’t be a hardship. He said he expects a sizeable chunk of that group to change their minds.
“We just don’t know,” he said.
Orman said he would rather the court collect questionnaires on those last three days just in case they need them.
“I would rather have these jurors, these questionnaires, in our pocket if we need,” he said.
Samour said he is leaning toward ending the initial phase early, but said he won’t make a decision until Monday.
2 p.m.
CENTENNIAL |The judge in the Aurora theater shooting trial released three jurors for medical reasons Friday.
Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. rejected medical release requests from three other jurors because they didn’t provide a doctor note or explain what their ailment was. Samour said Thursday that he would release jurors for medical reasons only if they brought a note. Otherwise, the court is asking them to at least fill out their questionnaire.
Samour said a prospective juror also appeared to fake an injury in an attempt to get released. The man, who was not released but instead rescheduled for Feb. 6, said he had a broken right hand and asked court staff to write a note to the judge for him, Samour said. The man also breathed heavily and dramatically, the judge said.
The man wore a bandage on his hand for part of the day, Samour said, but deputies saw him use both hands to ball up his jacket so he could use it as a pillow.
After the man asked to be released, all of his ailments seemed to disappear when he reached the elevator, the judge said. He also apparently forgot his hand injury and reached to shake a court staffer’s hand before realizing his mistake and reaching out with his left.
Sheriff’s deputies have worked undercover posing as jurors throughout jury selection, wearing street clothes and juror badges at multiple sessions. Samour mentioned undercover deputies when discussing the juror who may have faked an injury, but stopped short of saying they were the deputies who saw the man.
Samour also explained to the two sides why some non-citizens have been called for jury duty. The list of potential jurors includes non-citizens who have state-issued ID cards or driver’s licenses, he said.
Samour said there are lots of questions from this morning’s session, so the today’s hearing will likely go longer than usual.
10:35 a.m.
CENTENNIAL | With a steady stream of prospective jurors reporting to court in the Aurora theater shooting case, the judge said Friday jury selection could be cut short by a few days.
With about 2,000 prospective jurors having reported to court so far, that leaves about 1,200 who have filled out their questionnaire and could still be seated on the jury.
At the rate prospective jurors are reporting to court now, Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. said he would like to have Feb. 9 be the last day of the initial phase, instead of Feb. 13.
If the two sides continue to keep about 150 jurors per day, that would leave about 2,000 still eligible at the start of the next phase.
Over the first nine days of jury selection, the court has released 821 jurors, including 97 released this morning.
For the next phase, which includes individual questioning of jurors, Samour said he will use a defense-preferred plan and call 12 jurors per day and give the two sides 20 minutes to interview each person. Samour said he had been considering calling 18 per day and limiting the two sides to 10 minutes with each.
The goal is to whittle the pool to about 120 qualified jurors by the end of that 16 weeks. From there, the two sides will choose 12 jurors and 12 alternates.
At the current pace, Samour said he is willing to give the sides more time to speak with each prospective jurors. But, he cautioned, if the sides are not able to keep pace and choose about 8 jurors per week, he might have them call in more jurors and question them for shorter stretches. Between 900 and 1,300 prospective jurors will likely be questioned individually.
9:30 a.m.
CENTENNIAL | Two prospective jurors in the Aurora theater shooting trial showed up intoxicated to court Friday morning, the judge said.
One juror was drunk and Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. said he would like to release them. But, as they have with several jurors the judge or prosecutors wanted to release, lawyers for James Holmes objected.
Samour agreed to have the drunk juror come back on another day, just as he did with another drunk juror last week.
A second juror arrived at court high and told court staff he was illiterate. Samour said the court didn’t have the staff today to assist the juror with their questionnaire so they will be scheduled to return on a different day.
A total of more than 700 jurors have been released so far after Samour released five jurors Friday morning. Those released Friday were let go because they didn’t speak English, were not a United States citizen, or lived outside of Arapahoe County.
Those sorts of issues have come up with several jurors over the first nine days of jury selection. District Attorney George Brauchler said there seemed to be a significant number of people who received summonses but are not eligible for jury duty.
“I have some concern about the process by which people were picked for this process,” Brauchler said.
But Samour said the number is actually pretty insignificant considering the court mailed out 9,000 summonses.
Plus, Samour said, in most cases, the jury commissioner releases jurors with language, residency or citizenship issues before they ever report to court. In this case, the judge has ordered the jury commissioner not to release those prospective jurors and instead allow he and the two sides to review their cases before releasing them.
The number of ineligible jurors who have reported is pretty typical, he said.
“This is nothing new for the jury commissioner’s office, he said.
Samour also read questions submitted by jurors who reported to court Thursday afternoon. Among those, two jurors had questions about the insanity defense.
“No one in their right mind would do something like that, therefore they are insane,” one juror wrote. But, that juror said, the defendant is still guilty.
Another juror asked if they could find Holmes guilty but insane.
Samour and his staff told both jurors they couldn’t answer their questions.
Those sorts of questions about Holmes’ sanity are expected to be the crux of the trial. Holmes has admitted to being the gunman that night, but his lawyers say he was insane at the time of the killings.
Another juror from yesterday was worried about how the court would protect juror’s identities during the trial.
In another question, a juror asked the judge if she would be allowed to leave her apartment if her husband — a “die hard news person” — refuses to turn off the news. The judge said the question put him in an awkward spot.
“I didn’t want to get in the middle of this husband and wife situation,” he said.
Another juror said they know witnesses in the case and another said they worked with victims at University of Colorado Hospital in the shooting’s aftermath.
8:30 a.m.
CENTENNIAL | The ninth day of jury selection in the Aurora theater shooting trial is set to start Friday morning at 8:40 a.m.
Over the previous eight days, the court has dismissed more than 700 prospective jurors. Close to 2,000 have reported to court so far.
James Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding dozens more during a July 2012 shooting rampage at an Aurora movie theater. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Holmes has appeared in court for every session of jury selection so far wearing civilian clothes. He has sat quietly throughout the hearings.