Survivors and relatives of those killed clapped and cheered as Samour then ordered deputies to remove Holmes from his courtroom, and the gunman was led away in shackles.
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The 27-year-old was found guilty by a jury last month of murdering 12 people and wounding 70 in his rampage inside the packed screening a multiplex in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
That’s the maximum sentence he faced after jurors convicted him of murder, but could not agree on the death penalty. That meant that Holmes was automatically handed life sentences for each person he killed, reported NBC News. He rigged his apartment to explode on the night of the attack, hoping to divert first responders from the Aurora theater. She said he is remorseful as well, but his schizophrenia and the medication he takes make it hard for him to express his feelings.
Samour said there was a slim chance that Holmes would ultimately be housed in an out-of-state facility.
For those who can, it is now time to forget Holmes altogether.
“Is prison really less severe than death?”
Judge Samour disputed some victims’ suggestions that Holmes would have an easy life behind bars. “The defendant will die in incarceration, he will never be a free man again, ever”.
“It is nearly impossible to comprehend how a human being is capable of such acts”, Judge Samour. said.
Holmes will also have an opportunity to speak, though he declined to do so during his trial.
“You know your healing is not tied to the defendant’s fate”, Samour said. They could not come to a unanimous decision on the death penalty, voting 11 to 1 in favor of it.
James Holmes appears in court to be formally sentenced, Tuesday, August 25, 2015.
“We can not feel the depths of your pain”.
“As for my son, he feels remorse for his awful actions”, she said, pausing.
“We are unable to pick up the phone and say ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ We are unable to write them…”
Brauchler refuted the mother’s claim Wednesday. Holmes calmly and silently marched through the theater, witnesses said, firing at adults and children alike. “I believe in the system”. After his gun jammed, Holmes walked out of the theater and surrendered.
Defence lawyer Daniel King said on Tuesday his client will not appeal against his conviction, avoiding another lengthy trial for the victims.
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“We most humbly respect the suffering of the victims in this case”, King said. We pray for your peace, your peace with the sentence. Some called Holmes a monster and said he had cheated the executioner.
