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Blogs by Harold Kasselman
Colorado shooting case in trouble? 11/21/2013 12:55:13 PM
James Holmes, on trial for the murder of twelve and the wounding of several dozens of people in Aurora California, had his trial delayed indefinitely today. The defense will not dispute that Holmes did the acts. Rather, the defense maintains that Holmes did not have the mental capacity to have understood that what he was doing was wrong. Or, that he could not appreciate the fact that he was killing people.
State prosecutors are seeking a new psychiatric examination of Holmes. Apparently, an expert that the state chose to examine Holmes provided an opinion that Holmes was insane at the time he is alleged to have committed the killings. In such a situation, the prosecution is under a legal obligation to share those results and reports with the defense. That fact will of course badly hurt the state's case because they can't call that expert, but the defense likely will. Moreover, they will bring out during testimony that the state sought that expert's opinion.
The state will now seek another expert who will examine Holmes and provide another opinion. If that goes badly for the state, it could be a fatal blow to the case.
While an alleged mass murderer certainly, in my opinion, qualifies for the death penalty, the state may regret the offer of the defense to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. If the plea had been given by a competent Holmes, he likely would have lived the remainder of his life in jail and no appeals would likely ever change it.
