AURORA | The judge in the Aurora theater case today rejected a defense request for him to step down as judge in the case.
In a ruling handed down and released Friday, Judge Carlos A. Samour, Jr. said he would not step down from the case and said the defense has misconstrued his blunt approach as being hostile to their side.
Lawyers for accused theater shooter James Holmes had asked Samour on Thursday to step down, arguing that he has been hostile to the defense and personally attacked them in some of his orders.
In his order, Samour said he has been “blunt” in some of his wording, but insisted he has not been hostile to the defense.
Samour wrote that even in the order from last week that seemed to lead to the defense’s request — an order in which he rejected some defense requests regarding jury selection — he stressed that while he was rejecting their proposal, he told the lawyers that he held them in high regard.
The defense request included an affidavit from Carrie Lynn Thompson, who leads the Colorado Springs public defender’s office, who said she reviewed several of Samour’s orders and found them inappropriate.
“The Court’s orders disparage defense counsel and their advocacy and seem to personally attack defense counsel and the quality of their work,” she wrote.
Holmes’ lawyers said in their motion that while they have filed several motions that were eventually rejected, they are ethically required to try everything they can to save their client from execution. And, the defense said, it is vital to future possible appeals that any issues pre-trial are noted and argued so they can be addressed on appeal.
Samour said he stood by all of his orders and “refuses to apologize for doing that which all judges are required to do, regardless of whether the case before them is a death penalty case or not.”
Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding dozens more during a July 20, 2012, shooting rampage at an Aurora movie theater. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
He is due in court next week for a hearing about what images the judge will allow to be admitted at his trial next year.