AURORA | Prosecutors in the James Holmes case say witnesses and victims have been harassed by conspiracy theorists and are asking the judge to maintain a gag order in the case.
In a motion unsealed Wednesday, prosecutors said that if the judge does relax the order, he should redact the names of victims and witnesses. Prosecutors said witnesses and victims have been consistently harassed by conspiracy and some have gone so far as post the victims addresses online.
The motion came in response to a request form the city of Aurora for Judge William Sylvester to relax his gag order. The city’s lawyers said police and fire department officials have had to turn away requests from other departments who want to learn from Aurora’s experience that night.
Holmes’ defense team also objected to the city’s request, arguing that further releases could harm his ability to get a fair trial.
Holmes is accused of killing 12 and injuring 70 in the July 29 rampage at the Century Aurora 16 theater.
In the court filing dated Tuesday, Brauchler said some victims have been subjected to “relentless contacts by proponents of purported ‘conspiracies.’”
He also said maps with the addresses and phone numbers of victims have been posted online, and some people allegedly impersonating victims and witnesses have filed court motions in the case.
Brauchler didn’t identify the victims of the alleged harassment or the suspected perpetrators or offer further details. His spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a call.
Tom Sullivan, whose son, Alex, was killed, said someone talking about space aliens tried to contact him about the theater shootings through his union, the American Postal Workers.
Shelly Lucido, president of the union’s Aurora local, said the man called her espousing “almost body-snatcher stuff” and wanted to be put in contact with Sullivan. She refused.
“It was really, really weird,” said Lucido, who reported the call to Aurora police. Police didn’t immediately return a message Thursday.
Sylvester has barred attorneys and investigators from speaking publically about the case and sealed many documents. Holmes’ lawyers are attempting to compel a Fox News reporter to disclose her sources for a story describing the contents of a notebook Holmes sent to a psychiatrist. The defense contends the leaks violated the judge’s gag order.
The secrecy surrounding details of the case have prompted numerous objections and requests for information from media outlets.
The city of Aurora has also asked Sylvester to reconsider his secrecy orders, saying they became moot when prosecutors outlined their case against Holmes during a preliminary hearing in January.
Attorneys for the city said city officials have received requests from emergency responders in other cities for details on how they managed the response to the massacre, and from media, academics and individuals seeking recordings of 911 calls and other information.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
I demand proof that the man being tried for the Aurora theather shooting is James Egan Holmes. He looks nothing like the real Mediterranean Holmes.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=real+james+holmes+fake+james+holmes&qpvt=real+james+holmes+fake+james+holmes&FORM=IGRE
Perhaps the families need to start to move back from the public eye. . some seem to be everywhere, on tv, in the news. . . and the media should stop mentioning all their names and the names of the victims with interview of some. Anyone who doesnt know the names of the victims and their families must have lived out of the state since last summer.