AURORA | The judge overseeing the Aurora theater shooting trial denied a request from defense lawyers to postpone deadlines related to a second sanity evaluation, taking the legal team to task for asking.
“There are 336 hours in a two-week period. Considering the manpower and the extensive resources available to defense counsel, and considering further how much notice the defense and its experts have enjoyed regarding deadline at issue, two weeks are sufficient to file any appropriate motions …,” District Court Judge Carlos A Samour Jr. wrote in a ruling released Friday.
Prosecutors had earlier this week signed off on the request for a delay. James Holmes’ defense attorneys argued that since a second sanity evaluation had been complete and included 22 hours of filmed interviews with Holmes by psychiatric specialists, they needed more time to make likely motions, allowing the sanity trial to go forward.
Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the July 2012 attack inside an Aurora theater. The trial was set for Dec. 8. Had Samour granted the delay, it would be the fifth time the trial has been postponed.
Prosecutors said they understood that the complexity of the mental health report may warrant more time, but the majority of the victims polled do not want any further delay. Of 147 victims and relatives surveyed by prosecutors, 84 said they object to further postponement. Twenty-nine said they would not object to a short delay.