CENTENNIAL | James Holmes chose a packed movie theater as the setting of his rampage because it provided hundreds of possible victims who couldn’t escape, prosecutors said in closing arguments of Holmes’ preliminary hearing Wednesday.
Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson said prosecutors had shown ample evidence that Holmes wanted to kill as many people as possible that night.
“He picked the perfect venue for his crime,” Pearson said.
Holmes’ lawyers opted not to mount a defense during the preliminary hearing and called no witnesses.
The defense last week had planned to call witnesses who could discuss Holmes’ mental state at the time of the shooting, but public defender Daniel King said the defense had a change of heart.
“This is neither the proper venue nor the time for us to put on a show or put on some truncated defense,” King said.
The defense has said Holmes is mentally ill.
Judge William Sylvester said he will make a ruling before Friday morning on whether there is enough evidence for Holmes to stand trial.
Prosecutors have filed murder or attempted murder charges against for the 12 dead, 58 wounded by gunfire and another 12 injured fleeing.
Pearson said prosecutors could have filed attempted murder charges against Holmes for every single person in the theater that night, but that would have meant more than a thousand charges. To make the case manageable, Pearson said prosecutors narrowed the number of victims to just those hurt in the theater.
Holmes is scheduled to appear in court Friday morning, at which point Sylvester will likely announce his ruling. Sylvester said Friday’s hearing could also be Holmes’ arraignment, meaning Holmes would likely enter a plea then.
If Holmes is arraigned on Friday, court officials said cameras will be allowed in the courtroom.
Before Pearson’s closing argument, prosecutors showed several damning cell phone pictures Holmes took in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting spree — including five self portraits from the night before the shooting of a grinning Holmes flaunting his massive arsenal.
Holmes also made three separate trips to the theater in the weeks before July 20, taking pictures of exit doors on June 29, July 5 and July 11.
Two of those pictures were of a door inside the theater that appeared to lead from the theater into the main hallway. The other two were pictures of the theater’s purple exterior doors, though they didn’t appear to be the same door police say Holmes used to enter the theater that night.
The night before the shooting Holmes put on a sort of photo shoot inside his apartment.
In the first photo, taken at 5:17 p.m. July 19, Holmes took a picture of his guns, ballistic gear and gas mask sprad out on a red sheet on his bed.
At 6:22 p.m., he took a self portrait of himself wearing black contact lenses, a black beanie and sticking his tongue out. His dyed orange hair stuck out under the cap in curls that resembled devil horns.
Three minutes later, he took a picture of himself grinning and holding a Glock pistol in front of his face.
At 6:31 p.m., he took a picture of himself holding one of the black bombs he set in his house, seemingly whistling as he snapped the photo. The round bomb had an almost cartoonish quality, with a red and white striped fuse sticking out the top.
In the last picture, snapped at 6:40 p.m., Holmes sat in front of one of the elaborate bomb ignition systems.
Other pictures showed Holmes wearing the tactical ballistic gear and brandishing the assault rifle, scowling on July 5. That same day he snapped a picture of some of the bombs he was making in his kitchen. On July 16 he took a picture of a series of bombs on his floor next to a table. That picture partially showed what appeared to be an “Anchorman” movie poster on Holmes’ wall.
Aurora police Sgt. Matthew Fyles also testified Wednesday about the items police found in and around Holmes’ car, which was parked near the emergency exit to theater 9.
In Holmes’ pocket, police found a metal clip typically used to hold down a table cloth during a picnic. Fyles said Holmes wrapped the clips in aqua blue duct-tape and used one to prop the theater door open.
Fyles also said police found an unused tear gas can in Holmes’ car that matched the spent canister police say he threw inside the theater.
Police also found “caltrop” road spikes used to flatten a vehicle’s tires in Holmes car. The items, also sometimes called “road stars,” have four points and no matter how they land, will have one point sticking up.
Investigators also found a stun gun that was made to look like a cell phone, Fyles said.