4:15 p.m. update
AURORA | A contentious day of testimony from a psychiatrist who evaluated James Holmes four days after the Aurora theater shooting is wrapping up in Arapahoe County District Court.
Jonathan Woodcock has been on the stand all day and is now answering a bevy of questions submitted by jurors.
Woodcock, who said Holmes was insane at the time of the shootings, said Holmes’ thinking was irrational at the time, but during aggressive questioning, District Attorney George Brauchler tried to poke holes in that argument.
“It would be hard to come up with a rational reason to kill 12 people in a theater in a community like Aurora period,” Brauchler said.
Throughout the questioning Woodcock regularly gave answers with statements beyond what Brauchler asked. Near the end of his testimony, Judge Carlos Samour Jr. seemed frustrated by the answers and told Woodcock twice to only answer the question he was asked.
Jurors seemed to pay close attention to Woodcock’s testimony and submitted more than a dozen questions for him. One juror asked Woodcock whether someone could be delusional but not psychotic and another asked about whether he knew Holmes had circled July 20 on a calendar in his apartment before the shooting.
Another juror seemed angry with Woodcock and asked if from an “ethical standpoint” he felt it was ok that he was “picking and choosing” from other doctors’ work when he ruled Holmes sane. Samour opted not to allow that question to be asked in open court.
12:06 p.m. update
AURORA | Prosecutors’ bruising cross-examination of Jonathan Woodcock — the first doctor who evaluated James Holmes after the theater shooting and one who said he was insane — continued through Friday morning’s proceedings in Arapahoe County District Court.
In a July 12, 2012, email to his parents, Holmes denied having plans for much of anything in the coming weeks.
While Holmes had already purchased tickets for the July 20 Batman premier, amassed an arsenal and laid out detailed plans for the attack, Woodcock said he didn’t believe Holmes had committed to the attack at the time of that email.
“I don’t think he knew at this time whether or when it would occur with any certainty,” he said.
District Attorney George Brauchler disagreed.
“By July the 12th, he knew unequivocally that he would be going to theater 9 at the Century 16 theater and trying to murder everyone in it,” he said.
“No one has reviewed 100,000 pages,” Woodcock said.
Brauchler said there was no way for Woodcock to know that, but said that he never bothered to call any of the other doctors, even though those doctors called him to make their reports.
Brauchler also said Woodcock failed to discuss Holmes’ efforts to hide his crimes.
“The defendant’s effort to avoid detection in this case are pretty extensive,” Brauchler said.
Woodcock agreed but noted that after the crime, Holmes put no effort into getting away.
But Brauchler said Holmes gave inconsistent answers about what happened after the shooting. Prosecutors have said he told one doctor he opted not to leave because his body armor made driving hard, and he told another he was simply finished.
Brauchler said Woodcock was in a unique position to bring some clarity to that question, but the doctor opted not to ask Holmes about his plans after the shooting.
Woodcock said he didn’t feel the need to ask, in part because Holmes’ responses would not have been too reliable considering the time that had passed and his mental state at the time of the crime.
“That’s the whole problem with reconstructing someone’s psychotic mind, four days later or two years later,” he said.
Brauchler said Holmes donned gloves, waited until night fell and wore a mask during the attack, all things others doctors say point to sanity.
But Woodcock said there was no research that shows any of that correlates with mental illness.
“I disagree that this tells us anything about mental illness or sanity,” he said.
Brauchler said that despite Woodcock’s insistence that Holmes’ delusions “controlled” his actions, Holmes was still planning and his behavior was organized.
Woodcock said organization and planning are not evidence of sanity.
“That’s the dilemma here,” he said. “He demonstrates a great deal of organizational behavior at this time, but that behavior is driven by these delusional impulses.”
Woodcock said Holmes knew killing was wrong, but the delusions had him convinced the victims would appreciate what he did.
“The delusions were telling him that it was right and that if these people understood, they would think it was right also,” he said.
Woodcock said the fact the bombs at Holmes’ apartment failed were evidence that Holmes’ mind was deteriorating at the time of the attack. With his science background, the bomb setup should have been relatively easy for Holmes, Woodcock said.
Brauchler scoffed at that and almost laughingly asked: “Because it didn’t work, he had a cognitive deficit?”
Woodcock said that was correct.
Brauchler wrapped his cross examination after that and the defense is now questioning Woodcock again.
10:15 a.m. update
AURORA | District Attorney George Brauchler hammered away at a defense psychiatrist Friday, arguing the doctor who said James Holmes was insane failed to adequately evaluate Holmes.
Jonathan Woodcock, who was the first doctor to evaluate Holmes after the July 2012 shooting attack, said after that two-hour interview with Holmes four days after the shooting, he was convinced without a doubt that Holmes was insane.
Brauchler said Woodcock didn’t review the notebook Holmes mailed to his therapist or even know there were recent medical tests he could have reviewed earlier this year.
Woodcock said Thursday that Holmes’ discussion about his apparent attempted suicide as a young child was especially important to his diagnosis, because 8-year-old children don’t typically attempt suicide.
But Brauchler said Holmes didn’t tell his therapist about that incident or any other suicidal thoughts before the shooting.
“There is nothing in the record that indicated he had ever tried to harm himself before,” Brauchler said.
Holmes didn’t mention those thoughts until he met with Woodcock a few days after the shooting, Brauchler said.
Brauchler also said Woodcock failed to respond to a jail psychiatrist who wanted his insight on how Holmes should be medicated. The doctor said Holmes wouldn’t talk to him and he asked Woodcock for advice, but Woodcock declined, Brauchler said.
Woodcock said he told the jail psychiatrist what his initial impression was, but didn’t feel comfortable sharing more information because he wasn’t treating Holmes at the time.
“I was not in a position to prescribe or tell (the jail doctor) what to do,” he said.
Brauchler asked Woodcock if he opted not to call the jail doctor back because that would allow Holmes’ mental illness to go untreated and “manifest in a more dramatic way,” but the defense objected to that question and the just agreed.
From there, Brauchler tried to argue Woodcock’s evaluation was inadequate and said he failed to review important information.
Woodcock was given a chance to interview Holmes again in March 2015, but he opted to complete his report before he interviewed Holmes. When he did meet Holmes, it was for one hour.
“In that one hour — five days after you determined he was insane — you again never explored with him the preparation for the crime and the actual crime itself,” Brauchler said. Woodcock agreed.
Woodcock said he felt he had reviewed all the information necessary before meeting with Holmes.
Brauchler also said Woodcock didn’t review the entire 22-hour videotaped interview with another doctor and instead only read that doctor’s report.
“I chose not to take the time to do those,” Woodcock said.
The cross examination is expected to continue this morning.
9:20 a.m. update:
AURORA | The Aurora theater shooting trial is scheduled to end July 13, the judge said Friday.
Judge Carlos Samour made the announcement Friday morning before jurors came in to hear further testimony from Dr. Jonathan Woodcock, a psychiatrist who examined Holmes in July 2012 and ruled him insane.
Samour said he is confident in the July 13 date, but noted if the defense’s case goes beyond July 8 — the day the defense has said they will rest — or if prosecutors call more rebuttal witnesses than planned, closing arguments could come after July 13.
“This is just our best estimate and that’s the best we can do,” Samour said.
If jurors convict James Holmes, the sentencing phase of the trial would start July 17, assuming jurors are done deliberating within a few days, Samour said.
That phase of the trial will likely take about a month based on the estimates the two sides gave Friday.
Woodcock testified for most of the day Thursday and saw some of the most-contentious cross examination of the trial. District Attorney george Brauchler is scheduled to resume his cross examination shortly.
James Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding 70 more during the July 2012 rampage at a packed Aurora movie theater. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.