There has been much speculation of the mental state of James Egan Holmes, who remains in custody for allegedly opening fire at a midnight screening of the Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 and seriously injuring 59. Although the 24-year has not yet entered a plea, there is a solid chance that he will plead "Not Guilty by reason of insanity."
If Holmes and his defense Daniel King opt for the insanity option, the case for prosecutors might become tricky, since this would mean that the burden of proof shifts to prosecutors, who will have to prove that Holmes is mentally sound.
According to the Colorado state law, prosecutors must prove the defense's sanity. Prosecutors will not be able to use their own examiners in investigating the defendant's mental state.
"It's burden of proof on steroids, it's totally subjective. It's not like proving somebody pulled the trigger. That's objective," said former federal prosecutor, Marcellus McRae, now in private trial attorney in Los Angeles to the Huffington Post.
Currently, the alleged shooter Holmes is being held in a detention facility of Arapahoe County in solitary confinement. He is being charged with 12 counts of murder and 116 of attempted murder.
The past few weeks have resulted in some revealing details of Holmes mental state. A recent New York Times revealed that Holmes believed himself to be suffering from a mental disorder called Dysphoric mania, which is categorized by "significant depressive symptoms -- which seems like kind of a strange concept, but if you imagine feeling extremely irritable, uncomfortable, revved up, that starts to give a sense of what dysphoric or mixed mania probably feels like," according to Psychiatrist, Roy Perlis of Massachusetts General Hospital and Assist. Prof. of Psychiatry at Harvard University, on an interview with ABC News.
A few weeks into the trial, the University of Colorado Psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Fenton said that she informed a police about the PhD drop out expressing concern that her patient showed signs of imminent violence. In addition, police recovered a journal that Holmes sent the university physiatrist cautioning on the upcoming fatal event he planned.
Defense Daniel King has objected to prosecutors' bid for a gag order to get access to Holmes academic records. "They are fishing around to establish a motive. ... The motive is irrelevant...Nothing in those documents will reveal any intent," as reported by the Christian Monitor.
Prosecutors claim that Holmes apparently showed a number of worrisome signs many months prior to the Aurora movie theatre shootout. Prosecutors are arguing that Holmes' deteriorating grades and growing unhappiness as a student might reveal insight into the motive behind the massacre.
Pearson argues that the release of school records, including transcripts, but not medical reports are "All of this is relevant to his decision to withdraw from school, booby-trap his apartment and buy ammunition...What's going on in the defendant's life at the time is extremely relevant to this case," as reported by the Huffington Post. Pearson was insinuating that Holmes was becoming increasing disgruntled with the school, which likely caused him to snap.
Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney Carol Chambers told News Day that she is considering pursuing the death penalty, but only after consulting with the victims and their families.
On July 20, at a midnight screening of the cult-inducing Dark Knight Rises film at a movie house in Aurora, Colorado, Holmes, opened fire killing 12 people and injuring 59 others. He was arrested that morning and placed in custody.
