How can the penalty be defended as just when it is applied on such an inconsistent basis, and when the perpetrator of such a heinous crime is given life in prison without parole instead?
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Scores of victims of James Holmes’ deadly attack on a Colorado movie theater, now free to vent their feelings before the judge, are denouncing the defense team, the legal process and the single juror who blocked a death sentence.
Holmes was convicted of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others.
What this week’s three-day hearing will help determine is what Holmes’ sentences will be on the 141 other charges, which include attempted murder and an explosives rap for devices found in his apartment.
For the most part, Samour let them share their stories, no matter how long or off-topic.
She said: “No amount of justice will make up for the loss”.
“I will never forgive the monster that sits in this courtroom, smiling and laughing with his defense attorneys when the jury and your honor are out of the room”, said Anita Busch, whose second cousin Micalya Medek was among the 12 people Holmes killed. Sullivan’s granddaughter, 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, was the youngest killed.
“You can’t claim there was no justice because it wasn’t the outcome you expected”, Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. said in an unusual speech from the bench during Holmes’ formal sentencing hearing for the 2012 attack.
Under Colorado law, jurors must be unanimous to impose the death penalty, so Holmes automatically got life.
Megan Sullivan described for the court becoming an only child when her brother Alex was murdered.
In terms of Pourciau’s comments that the system has victimized the victims again, Samour said he disagreed with that.
Cowden and her sister, Brooke, spoke in trembling, tearful voices as they talked about how their fathers death shattered their lives and left them in a black hole of sorrow.
After the testimony from victims, lead prosecutor George Brauchler will present his sentencing argument, the statement said. Holmes, shackled and wearing a jail uniform, showed little emotion and sometimes twiddled his thumbs.
The defense will also have the opportunity to call witnesses, including Holmes himself if he so chooses.
Aurora Police Cmdr. Michael Dailey spoke of the emotional trauma that he and other officers – including his wife, an Aurora officer – suffered in the chaotic and bloody aftermath of the shooting.
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Dailey says he hopes every day is painful for Holmes and that “prison is not kind to him”.
