CENTENNIAL | The first day of individual juror questioning in the Aurora theater trial is moving slower than planned, with just four of six scheduled jurors being questioned in the morning. But, of those four, three were kept for the next round, a rate far better than what Judge Carlos Samour Jr. has said he was hoping for.
A picture of what jurors will look like as lawyers whittle down the pool of potential jurors is just beginning to take shape.
Samour has said he wants about eight of the roughly 30 jurors questioned each week to be kept for the next round. The judge called that a “positive first step.”
Still, two jurors who were scheduled for questioning this morning will not be questioned until this afternoon, when another six are scheduled to appear.
Of the four jurors questioned this morning, the two sides agreed to keep two and agreed to release a third. The fourth juror was questioned for more than an hour and 10 minutes, after which the defense asked the judge to release the man but the prosecution objected.
The juror, a white man is his 30s or 40s who said he worked as an art director for a media company, had said he would not consider Holmes’ age, background or mental health issues when deciding whether to sentence him to death.
Katherine Spengler, one of Holmes’ lawyers, said he should be dismissed because he couldn’t consider those mitigating factors. But under further questioning from Samour, the man said he would consider those issues if the law said he should.
Samour opted to keep the man and said his initial answers were the result of confusing questions from the defense, not an unwillingness to follow the law.
After all that questioning though, it appeared the man could be released because of issues with his job anyway. The man said he is a one-man art department at a media company and his company might have to hire someone to fill in for him should he be selected for the lengthy trial. Samour told the man to check with his boss and let the court know what they say.
The juror released from service Wednesday morning was an elderly Vietnam veteran who said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and other health problems. The man brought a note from his doctor and the two sides agreed to release him.
The first juror questioned Wednesday — and later kept for the next phase — said she went to high school in Aurora but was away at college in Connecticut at the time of the shooting.
District Attorney George Brauchler and Public Defender Dan King both questioned the woman at length about her stance on the death penalty and mental illness. The woman said she could consider all of the evidence and determine whether someone is simply mentally ill or insane. On the death penalty, the woman said she is generally neutral on the issue, but could hand down the sentence if needed. Still, the woman said she had reservations about the death penalty.
“I don’t believe that people should kill people,” she said.
The juror kept Wednesday was a white woman in her 50s who said she worked as a lawyer and a business owner. The woman said serving on a jury would likely be tough for her business, but she would find a way to manage. She said she is a “firm believer in the Constitution” so she sees the importance of serving, even if it proves difficult.
Throughout questioning Wednesday, the two sides regularly pointed at Holmes in an apparent effort to drive home the point that they were asking jurors to consider the death penalty not in the abstract, but as it applies to a specific person.
Each juror asked said that while they don’t think the death penalty is appropriate in all cases, they could sentence someone to death in the appropriate circumstances.
Holmes, wearing a white and blue button-up shirt and black dress pants, sat quietly at the defense table throughout the hearing. For portions of it he appeared to be drawing thick lines on a legal pad with a blue pen.