DENVER—Attorneys for Colorado theater shooter James Holmes begin presenting their case Thursday by trying to show he was legally insane when he opened fire on a packed movie premiere, killing 12 people and wounding 70.
Defense witnesses will offer a less emotional and more clinical assessment of Holmes after two months of often-gruesome testimony from prosecution witnesses, including many visibly wounded victims.
Without the scores of victims on their side, Holmes’ defense plans to present its evidence in less than a quarter of the time taken by prosecutors. Their goal is not only to keep Holmes out of prison, but also to keep him alive. Legal experts say the coming days may be defense attorneys’ best chance to convince jurors he should not be executed, even if they decide he should be convicted.
“What the defense is going to try to do is say, ‘This would have never happened but for the intervention in this guy’s life of very serious mental illness,’” said George H. Kendall, who has handled other high-profile death-penalty cases. “While the harms have been overwhelming, there’s just no way to disassociate all that carnage from the fact that his control system is all screwed up.”
