Prosecutors in the James Holmes Colorado movie massacre continue to fight for access to the notebook, the 24-year-old sent to the university psychiatrist before the shootout. The diary is said to contain details about the attack. Judge William B. Sylvester denied prosecutors access to the book, citing that it breached doctor-patient confidentiality. Prosecutors have been trying to prove that Holmes' relationship with psychiatrist Lynne Fenton ended June 11, which was the last time she saw the patient.
Prosecution is presenting lead police investigator Craig Appel and detective Tom Welton will take to stands Thursday to reiterate the importance of the contents of that notebook to the case. Last month, Judge Sylvester denied prosecution access to it; he will make a ruling on this matter later Thursday.
In addition to gaining access to the infamous diary, prosecution under Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson is also seeking to add 10 counts to Holmes' 142 counts and amend 17 others. He is currently being charged with 12 counts of murder and 116 of attempted murder.
Holmes has not yet entered a plea, but 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. 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.
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