CENTENNIAL — For weeks, the Aurora theater shooting gunman has listened to dozens of witnesses describe how he walked into a crowded movie premiere with guns blazing, and he has heard psychiatrists explain his mental state at the time.
He has said nothing.
And his silence will continue.
James Holmes told Judge Carlos Samour Jr. on Thursday that he will not testify in his own defense.
“I choose not to testify,” Holmes said, outside the presence of the jury.
It was the longest sentence Holmes has spoken in the trial, which started April 27. Otherwise, he has answered a few yes or no questions from Samour.
Still, jurors have heard a first-hand account from Holmes. During the prosecution phase, they watched 22 hours of Holmes discussing his life, the crime and his mental state during a video-recorded interview with a court-appointed forensic psychiatrist.
The question over whether Holmes would take the stand came as his five-lawyer defense team prepared to rest its case on Friday. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and he could face the death penalty if convicted.
There have been more than 250 witnesses in 46 days of court. Now, there is just one left for the defense.
That witness’ Friday testimony will be followed by 45 minutes of video, attorney Dan King said. Then, the defense plans to rest.
For the past 2½ days, the jury has listened to the defense team’s star witness — Dr. Raquel Gur, a psychiatrist who teaches and conducts research on schizophrenia at the University of Pennsylvania.
Gur told jurors that Holmes was insane on July 20, 2012, when he killed 12 people and injured 70 others at the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” at the Century Aurora 16 movie theater.
Two other psychiatrists — both ordered to evaluate Holmes by the court — have determined that he was sane and knew right from wrong when he attacked.
LIVE BLOG: See The Denver Post blog from the theater shooting trial.
Gur has sparred with District Attorney George Brauchler, who aggressively questioned her about her notes, a lack of video or audio of her 28½ hours of interviews and the report she wrote, which was much shorter than those produced by other doctors.
Throughout the trial, jurors have been allowed to ask questions of the witnesses once the attorneys are finished. The jurors had more than 60 for Gur, and they probed for details on the nature of psychotic delusions, best practices for evaluating patients and whether Holmes was manipulating her with his answers.
Gur stood her ground through it all, insisting that her diagnosis was the right one. Holmes, she said, was guided by the delusional belief that he needed to kill people to increase his self worth and was on a mission to fulfill that need.
“There was an inability to consider the morals we share as normal people,” Gur said. “They did not play a role in his process of preparing and carrying out the mission.”
King had planned to rest his case on Thursday, but the jurors’ questions and Gur’s lengthy responses extended the trial another day.
The jury will assemble at 9 a.m. Friday for the final pieces of the defense case, and the prosecution has said it will have a short rebuttal. Closing arguments will begin around midday on Tuesday.
Matthew Nussbaum: 303-954-1666, mnussbaum @denverpost.com or twitter.com/ MatthewNussbaum
