James Holmes, the former graduate student accused of opening fire at a midnight screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ in Aurora, Colorado, was charged today with 24 counts of first-degree murder, Reuters is reporting. He was also charged with 116 counts of attempted murder for the July 20 shooting at the Century 16 multiplex.
The first-degree murder charges allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty, although they haven’t yet said whether or not they’ll pursue it. Holmes was charged with two murder counts for each victim-one standard murder charge and one count of murder with extreme indifference. Prosecutors have also filed two attempted murder counts for each of the 58 wounded survivors.
The former neuroscience student sat at a table with two defense lawyers during his 45-minute hearing. He spoke only once, when responding yes to a question from Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester. The judge set the pre-trial hearing fro September 27, and a preliminary hearing for the week of November 13.
During the hearing, one of the defense attorneys, Tamara Brady, asked that prosecutors turn over evidence in the case. But prosecutors haven’t yet opened an evidence parcel that reportedly contained a notebook outlining his plans for the shooting. Sylvester said he’ll hold a hearing on August 16 to determine which evidence should be protected between Holmes and his psychiatrist, Dr. Lynne Fenton.
Written by: Karen Benardello
