Jury selection in theater shooting trial to start Tuesday

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Jury selection will start Tuesday in the trial of accused mass shooter James Holmes after the judge in the case rejected yet another defense request to delay the trial.

Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding at least 70 others in July 2012 at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises movie in Aurora, Colo. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and prosecutors are pushing to have him executed if convicted.

The court has summoned about 9,000 potential jurors who will be interviewed over the coming months to develop a jury that will decide Holmes' guilt or innocence, and then whether he should be put to death.

Holmes' attorneys have repeatedly sought to delay the trial's start. On Wednesday, the judge in the case denied the latest request and ordered everyone to be ready for Tuesday. Opening arguments are planned for late spring, and the long delay between the shooting and the trial has upset some shooting survivors.

"If, given the seemingly unlimited resources and manpower dedicated to this case, the defense cannot be ready for trial after so much time, the court fears the defense will never announce ready for trial," Chief Judge Carlos Samour wrote in his order. "This case is ready to proceed to trial. The court will not allow it to be unnecessarily and improperly delayed simply because it is a death-penalty case."

Holmes' lawyers acknowledge Holmes, a former PhD neuroscience student, was the lone shooter but say he was gripped by a psychotic episode. The trial previously had been delayed in part because of two sanity evaluations of Holmes. Late in 2014, defense attorneys said medical issues affecting the defense team necessitated a delay.

Both sides are under a gag order in the case.

In December 2014 — just as jury summons went out — Holmes' parents issued a public statement begging prosecutors to drop the death penalty and give their son a plea deal that would see him locked up and treated.

"We do not know how many victims of the theater shooting would like to see our son killed. But we are aware of people's sentiments," they wrote. "We have read postings on the Internet that have likened him to a monster. He is not a monster. He is a human being gripped by a severe mental illness."