If the end of the Aurora theater shooting trial has left you feeling empty and confused, you’re not alone.
Millions of dollars, mountains of paper and months of hearings brought Aurora right where it began when James Holmes appeared in court for the first time about three years ago after murdering 12 and injuring dozens more during the Aurora theater shooting.
Aurora is right where we and many others predicted, sending a sick, demented man to prison for the rest of his life. Many have been quick to blame Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler for creating a situation that has Holmes headed for life in prison instead of a seat on death row. They’re wrong.
Brauchler by no means lost or botched the case. His prosecution team and the case itself were masterful. The defense never stood a chance to effectively argue that Holmes was indeed criminally insane leading up to and during the horrific attack inside that theater.
Brauchler’s mistake was to pursue the death penalty to begin with. His argument that he could not entertain a plea deal offered early on from the defense because he was unable to see Holmes’ notorious notebook and other evidence is hogwash. A negotiated discovery was possible, and more importantly, it was blatantly obvious then and along the way that Holmes was egregiously mentally ill. The situation went sideways not because of Brauchler’s skills as a lawyer and D.A., but because the death sentence clouded every aspect of the trial until the very end. Everyone knows that plea deals are struck throughout capital cases.
But risking a death penalty conviction on the hope that not a single juror would be wise enough to say, “we cannot execute mentally ill people in this country,” was a poor and dangerous choice on Brauchler’s part. No one knows what he really believes, but Brauchler, like so many others, publicly pursue the notion of an effective death penalty — which is in reality nothing but a deceptive, costly and repugnant myth.
The death penalty is not the “ultimate” punishment; it is nothing but repulsive revenge killing. The death penalty does not prevent other crimes. The death penalty does not provide a useful “bargaining” tool — it provides a token for extortion, which defense lawyers know how to wield to their own advantage. The death penalty is a barbaric fleecing of taxpayers, costing us hundreds of millions of dollars and not even delivering what proponents promise. The death penalty is unfairly and arbitrarily used, mostly against persons of color, even right here in Aurora and Colorado. It is, in effect, racism at its worst.And the scariest part? In more cases than most people would believe, it is won or carried out on innocent victims.
And in this case, like so many others, it has become a dividing point in the community, creating raging arguments and acrimony over something that, even had it been won by Brauchler’s team, would never have happened. Even conservative states like Nebraska have pushed back against executions, not because there aren’t faithful proponents there, but because it is untenable, unwise and has come undone.
Whether it was one or many jurors from the Aurora theater shooting trial that scuttled a death sentence, even those who passionately wanted it were granted a favor, ending decades of endless appeals and hearings, fantastically expensive legal proceedings and prison accommodations, only to be undone by a future governor, court ruling or maybe even a desperately overdue nationwide enlightenment.
A death sentence was so expected from the trial, its rebuke has sent much of the community reeling.
Rather than pine for what is now gone, Aurora, and all of Colorado needs to return to where we were three years ago, and where we’ve been stalled ever since: finding a way to stop something like this from ever happening again. Justice, as much as there ever come from such an atrocity, has been delivered. Now it’s time make progress.
WRONG! ONE juror, one lying juror (during voir dire he or she must have lied about being able to sentence someone to death) made this decision, exactly what this self-involved person wanted all along. It must be smiling to itself now, “I changed the verdict, I changed the sentence, It’s all about me now’ What total nonsense. This whole article is slanted hard left, as with their editor.
This juror did not necessarily lie during void dire. A juror on a death penalty case must be be able to say that he or she can impose the death penalty, not that he or she will impose the death penalty. The juror did not change the verdict. There was no verdict to change. A verdict was reached and three people did not come to the conclusion that death was the answer.
Exactly. three people.
Exactly my ass! 2 were on the fence, ONE was never going to change his or her mind, even after seeing the horrendous affect that shooting automatic weapons into a theater creates, And of those victims? You on the side of abortion and other ‘individual rights’ will always make me sick to my stomach, your care more for misfits than normal, healthy, contributing adults and children, go f k yourselves.
Wow, Goo Goo, nine posts so far and you’re the author of six of them. Make sure you’re not arguing with yourself!
Have you been keeping up? ALL concerned with this trial now say ONE juror, pay attention.
No, YOU pay attention. Read my post carefully. Use your index finger if you have to. My post had nothing to do with one juror or twelve. It had to do with all your many posts on this single subject. Nine of ’em. Now ten! OK, I’ve got better things to do. Way better!
‘criminally mentally ill’ and YES, they should be sentenced as any other citizen in this country. There is no cure, the hocus pocus that is psychiatry, relies on mind numbing medications, without them, they would have no practice at all. Talk about snake oil salesman.
I agree, agree, agree……millions and millions later, now we should be finding a way to stop something like this from ever happening again. Justice, as much as there ever come from such an atrocity, has been delivered. Now it’s time make progress.
Well said.
‘ we should be finding a way so this never happens again’ You know how many times I’ve heard that, so many I can’t count. Recently, that’s exactly what the director of the EPA said about 3 million gallon spill of contaminated mine water into the Animas River said. Ft. Hood, 9/11, Chattanooga, Birmingham, any horrible event is always met with ‘we must make sure this never happens again’ FAT f-ing chance. Idiot.
If that’s your idea of justice, I’d like you to talk to the victims, instead of hiding behind a computer screen, and screaming about JUSTICE. This was far from any kind of justice, far from any retribution, far from anything just, but in your small, liberal mind, this is justice, buttwipe.
gofastgo–who is the juror? Surely if the person was “all about me” you’d know who he or she was by now. Also, this is an editorial so of course it is slanted. Last thing, it gives me a lot of hope that somebody as idiotic as yourself is unhappy with the way things are going in this country.