CENTENNIAL | The judge in the Aurora theater shooting trial said Thursday he will call one fewer prospective juror for questioning each day in an effort to save time.
Judge Carlos Samour Jr. said he has been happy that lawyers for accused shooter James Holmes and the prosecution have agreed to keep several more jurors than expected over the first six days of individual questioning. Samour had hoped for nine or 10 jurors to be sent to the next round through six days, but the sides have agreed to keep 27 so far, including three on Thursday.
But each court session has lasted longer than expected, with some days lasting past 6 p.m. The courthouse typically closes at 5 p.m.
Samour said that instead of calling six prospective jurors each afternoon, he will only call five. In the morning, six jurors will be called.
District Attorney George Brauchler had asked Samour to instead limit the amount of time each side questions individual jurors. The current limit of 20 minutes per juror for each side is more than enough time, Brauchler said. He also said the court has “dodged some bullets so far” because not every juror has shown up for court.
If all six jurors are questioned for a total of 40 minutes, the two sides could never finish in a half day, Brauchler said.
But the defense objected and said 20 minutes is sometimes needed.
“It takes that long just to figure out where they stand on things,” public defender Tamara Brady said.
Samour said he didn’t think the two sides always needed as much time as they use, but said it wouldn’t be fair to limit the questioning considering the two sides are outpacing the goals he laid out.
Among the three jurors told to return for the next round Thursday was a woman who worked as a psychologist for state prisons, in a psychiatric ward at a hospital and as a lawyer. Despite her experience with the mentally ill and her background, the woman said she would be able to follow the court’s orders and base her decisions as a juror on what she heard in court. A man, who says he is a substitute teacher, and another man, who says he’s a student who will graduate in May, were retained from the morning session.
Three people were released because they said they could not hand down the death penalty. One woman was released in the morning because she said she presumes Holmes is guilty, even before the trial begins. Another man was released because he said he couldn’t handle seeing graphic images.
Holmes sat quietly throughout today’s preceding wearing a light-blue, short sleeve, button-up shirt and blue pants.
Friday is a day off for the two sides and court is scheduled to resume Monday.
Staff writer Aaron Cole contributed to this report.
“The” mentally ill is a signal of prejudice.