12:12 p.m. update:
A morning of bench discussions left little time for actual testimony before jurors broke for lunch shortly before noon during Day 31 of the trial of James Holmes in Arapahoe County District Court.
While there was no flurry of objections during the morning’s proceedings, the ones issued prompted numerous lengthy discussions between prosecutors and defense at Judge Carlos Samour Jr.’s bench.
Before breaking for lunch, Gander Mountain Aurora store manager Carla Mae Rodriguez testified about Holmes’ purchase of a Glock pistol at the store on May 22, 2012.
At the prompting of the prosecution, Rodriguez walked the court through the process the store uses for handling the sale of firearms, including ATF Form 4473, which is needed for anyone wishing to buy a firearm. Her testimony — about how the store submits the form to a Colorado Bureau of Investigation system for approval or denial of the criminal background check — was the last substantial testimony heard by the remaining jurors before the lunch break at 11:55 a.m.
Jurors are due back from lunch for the resumption of the trial at 1:30 p.m.
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AURORA | A fourth juror in just four days was released in the Aurora theater shooting trial Monday, this time after the judge said he worried she wasn’t honest last week about a shooting involving her brother-in-law.
The juror, a middle-aged white woman, told Judge Carlos Samour Jr. last week that her brother-in-law had been in an accident and asked for permission to visit him at a hospital.
The next day, the woman said her brother-in-law had actually been shot but said she didn’t know that until after she told the judge he was in an accident.
The defense asked the judge to dismiss the woman last week, but Samour declined.
Samour said Monday that after thinking about it over the weekend, he had concerns about whether the woman was being honest with him when she said her brother was in an accident.
“I think she knew this was a shooting,” he said.
Given the magnitude of the case, Samour said he wasn’t willing to risk having a juror who he didn’t think was honest so he opted to release her.
The woman’s dismissal comes after Samour released three other jurors last week amid concerns that one heard details of the case through the media and discussed them with the other two.
Samour seated 12 alternates at the start of the trial just in case some jurors were dismissed during the lengthy trial. As of Monday, 12 jurors and eight alternates remain.
The juror’s dismissal Monday came after Samour had a lengthy private bench conference with the defense and prosecution. Jurors didn’t start hearing testimony until almost 10 a.m., about an hour later than normal.
The trial entered is in its 31st day in Arapahoe County District Court, as prosecutors begin the final phase of their case before the trial shifts to the defense’s presentation.
Holmes is on trial for the July 20, 2012, shooting at the Aurora Century 16 theater that killed 12 people and wounded 70 others. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.