CENTENNIAL | A man notified the court Thursday that his son was in the theater the night accused shooter James Holmes killed 12 people and wounded dozens more. Roughly 150 potential jurors in the Aurora theater shooting case were dismissed Thursday from jury duty. The court has not yet acted on that man’s note.
Jury selection began Jan. 20 and the initial selection period is expected to wrap up Feb. 9, three days earlier than anticipated. Approximately 2,400 prospective jurors have been summoned and roughly half have been dismissed.
According to Judge Carlos Samour Jr., the court is looking for about 2,000 available jurors for the individual questioning phase, which will begin next week. The final jury will be comprised of 12 jurors and 12 alternates.
Jurors were dismissed Thursday for a variety of reasons including medical hardships, residency requirements or, like the man who was dismissed because his son was in the theater during the shooting, personal connections to the case.
Holmes sat quietly throughout the proceedings Thursday.