AURORA | The morning of Day 41 in the Aurora theater shooting trial began with a lengthy discussion over whether the results of a psychometric test of accused shooter James Holmes should be admitted.
Defense lawyers and District Attorney George Brauchler spent about the opening hour of Wednesday’s discussing the merits of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), which is a widely used psychometric test of adult personality. Holmes took the personality inventory, and attorneys on both sides debated whether individual answers given are used by doctors who analyze the results from an MMPI.
Brauchler stated that he believed that, as statements made by the defendant, the results have relevance to the case.
Judge Carlos Samour Jr. called a brief recess so he could make a ruling on whether the test would be admitted.
The lengthy argument happened outside the presence of the jury, which is expected to enter the courtroom later this morning.
Samour ruled he would admit the test, but limit what questions prosecutors could ask about it.
When the jury finally took their seats in the jury box, Aurora police Detective Gordon Madonna resumed testimony.
Madonna, who also testified late Tuesday, detailed the search history police found on Holmes’ computer. Leading up to the shooting, Madonna said Holmes searched for information about the explosives he set up in his apartment and details about mental illness.
James Holmes scored 123 on an IQ test and had a “superior intellect, ” a neuro-psychologist at Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo testified Wednesday.
Rose Manguso, who administered the IQ test and several others at the state mental hospital, conducted the tests on Holmes in August 2013.
Manguso said Holmes’ IQ results were high, but he isn’t a genius.
Manguso said Holmes didn’t appear to be faking symptoms on any of his tests, but she couldn’t be 100-percent sure of that.
“No test is infallible, of course not,” she said.
Manguso said Holmes’ intelligence and his ability to think clearly are not signs that he was mentally healthy.
“Even intelligent people can become mentally ill,” she said.
District Attorney George Brauchler said the tests don’t speak to whether Holmes was sane or insane at the time of the shooting, and Manguso agreed.