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| Bill Robles/REUTERS |
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After gut-wrenching testimony in a Colorado courtroom, a judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence for accused killer James Holmes to face trial on all 166 felony counts against him.Holmes, you remember, is allegedly and undoubtedly the shooter at the midnight premiere of 'The Dark Knight Rises', the latest in the Batman franchise. Holmes, who had booby-trapped his apartment, went to the multiplex, where during his rampage, he killed twelve, and shot another 58. In the ensuing confusion, a dozen others were injured.
According to new reports, on one of the 911 calls played in court, 30 shots were heard - more than one per second. At least one police officer broke down on the stand when talking about finding a six year old girl dead in the theater.
We also learned, according to this report:
Prosecution witnesses also testified that Holmes started assembling an arsenal in early May and by July 6 had two semi-automatic pistols, a shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, 6,200 rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines that allow a shooter to fire more rounds without stopping to reload.
In late June he began equipping himself with a helmet, gas mask and body armor, the witnesses said.
In early July, they testified, he began buying fuses, gunpowder, chemicals and electronics to booby-trap his apartment in hopes of triggering an explosion and fire to divert police from the theater. The bombs never went off.
Also in early July, he took some interior and exterior photos of the theater, witnesses said.Holmes' attorneys said he was not ready to enter a plea today, and the judge granted a delay; families of the victims - the dead and the wounded - will have to wait until March to find out what happens next. It's assumed that there will be an insanity defense. One Colorado attorney suggested:
“The defense team has nowhere else to go, given the obvious premeditation and overwhelming evidence against Holmes,” Craig Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor now in private practice as a trial attorney, told Reuters.I disagree - they do have somewhere else to go.
It's called a guilty plea. It's called having your client accept responsibility for what was done.
It's called doing the right thing.
The defense cannot enter a guilty plea, only the defendant can.
ReplyDeleteExcept in the case of a plea bargain, perhaps to avoid a death penalty, it is not the defense attorney's job to convince his client to plead guilty.
Rob Blau
Thanks for the comment, Rob. Like many people, I hope this comes down to 'plead it out' versus mounting a vigorous insanity defense. While I appreciate that everyone is entitled to their 'day in court', in cases like this it seems like that's all they're entitled to -- a day to plead guilty and hear their sentence -- and then we all move on.
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