Under Colorado law, jurors must be unanimous to impose the death penalty, so Holmes automatically got life.
Advertisement
The only person to testify on behalf of James Holmes was his mother, who said she has been researching mental illness and ways to prevent mass violence since the 2012 shooting at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
A judge formally sentenced Holmes Wednesday to a dozen life sentences without parole, plus an additional 3,300 years to be served consecutively.
District Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. announced the sentence at a hearing Wednesday, ending a grueling, emotional trial that had stretched out for much of this year.
The long, grueling trial came to its formal conclusion three years and 37 days after Holmes murdered 12 people and tried to kill 70 more during a midnight showing of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in the Denver suburb of Aurora. He added the defendant was not close to his family or any other group that could provide support.
Samour disputed some victims’ suggestion that Holmes would have an easy life behind bars, noting prison is harsh and restrictive. “I felt it was a personal attack”, a victim’s brother said.
The 27-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder and 140 counts of attempted first degree murder, as well as an explosives charge.
Samour also told victims and survivors that it’s unclear where Holmes will spend his life sentence without parole, but he noted it might be a state other than Colorado.
The judge took pains to mention each victim by name and offer up personal details provided by family members during the trial.
He said whatever illness Holmes may have suffered, there was overwhelming evidence that a significant part of his conduct had been driven by “moral obliquity, mental depravity, … anger, hatred, revenge, or similar evil conditions”.
And the judge praised the victims, who he said had shown tremendous courage and grit even though some of whom were disappointed that Holmes would not be executed. “But your healing is not tied to his fate”, said Samour.
By that time, he had carefully planned his attack – including stockpiling ammunition and studying the theatre complex to choose the auditorium would allow for the most casualties.
Holmes’ attorneys argued that the former graduate student was insane at the time of the incident but the jury found he was responsible for his actions, though mentally ill.
Advertisement
Holmes’ sentencing hearing was largely symbolic but gave scores of victims an unprecedented chance to vent their feelings to the judge.
