Theater shooting trial moves step closer to possible death sentence

CENTENNIAL — Wearing looks of stoic responsibility as their verdicts were read, jurors on Monday took another step toward a possible death sentence in the Aurora movie theater shooting trial.

In making the decision to move forward, the jury of nine women and three men unanimously concluded that nothing about James Holmes’ life or mental illness was sufficient to outweigh the horror of the 12 murders he committed.

The verdicts were reached after less than three hours of deliberation that began last week. It means the trial now moves into a final phase of sentencing where jurors will decide the ultimate question on Holmes’ punishment: life or death?

“I’m just very, very happy that the jurors are very professional,” said Joshua Nowlan, one of 70 people who was wounded in the attack on the Century Aurora 16 theater. As he spoke outside the courthouse after the verdicts were read, Nowlan used a cane to support himself on a bullet-shattered leg. His short-sleeved shirt revealed jagged scars on his right arm.

“You can tell this is not easy for them.”

The decision, Nowlan said, means the victims will soon “finally get the closure we deserve.”

Monday’s verdicts were ultimately an incremental step toward a conclusion for the trial, but they came with the anticipation of the final decision.

For the first time since the trial began in April, jurors were asked to make a decision based not only on facts and the law but also on their personal morals. Had the jury not unanimously agreed that Holmes’ crime was so awful that it outweighed any counterbalancing details about his life, Holmes would have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was the first realistic chance for the case’s end since jurors last month found Holmes guilty.

The courtroom filled up nervously prior to the verdicts’ 12:30 p.m. reading.

As the judge looked over the verdict forms, defense attorney Tamara Brady moved to the front edge of her seat. Her colleague, Daniel King, briefly closed his eyes. Victims’ families, seated in the courtroom audience, stared forward with expectation.

But when Judge Carlos Samour Jr. began reading the verdicts, what rippled through the courtroom was not cathartic release but rather emotional refortification.

Brady and King appeared to show no emotion as Samour announced the jurors’ decision to move forward on each of the murder counts. Neither did prosecutors.

In the gallery, a handful of family members of the slain wept quietly on one side. On the other side, Holmes’ mother, Arlene, bowed her head and wiped a few tears from her eyes. She and Holmes’ father, Robert, tightly held hands.

The verdicts mean the trial enters perhaps its most heartbreaking phase Tuesday morning.

Colorado’s method for deciding a possible death sentence is a three-step process. In the first step, which concluded last month in the theater shooting case, jurors must decide whether a murder is especially heinous enough to be eligible for the death penalty.

In the second step — which jurors decided Monday — defense attorneys present evidence about the whole of a defendant’s life. Jurors must then decide whether those details — in Holmes’ case, a polite childhood, a previously violence-free record and a diagnosis of schizophrenia — outweigh the awful things about the crime that make it eligible for the most severe punishment.

In the third step, prosecutors call family members of those murdered to testify about how the crime has impacted their lives — something known legally as “victim-impact evidence.” The prosecution in the theater shooting trial plans for that testimony to take two or three days.

Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed in the attack three years ago, said she expects to testify at long last on Tuesday.

“I’m going to share Jessica with the jury,” she said.

Witnesses in the third step will be able to tell jurors about the kinds of details that were kept out of the trial’s guilt phase — about the last phone call they had with their loved one or about the sleepless nights they’ve suffered since. On Monday, Samour ruled that close friends of the victims also will be able to testify.

No one will be allowed to ask jurors for a specific sentence.

“Likely what we’re about to hear will be enormously emotional,” said Denver defense attorney and legal analyst Larry Pozner.

Holmes’ attorneys also will have the chance to put on evidence, including possibly calling Robert and Arlene Holmes to testify again. And Holmes also has a right to address the jurors.

But Denver trial attorney and legal analyst Scott Robinson said the jurors’ decision Monday — and the short time they took deliberating mitigating factors in the case — doesn’t bode well for Holmes.

“The writing’s on the wall, and the writing says death,” he said.

Samour said Monday afternoon that he would watch jurors in the next step to ensure they are not overwhelmed by emotional testimony. Robinson and Pozner said the coming emotion will be difficult for jurors to set aside.

But, Pozner said, the ultimate decision in the case won’t be based purely on testimony. At the close of the trial — now perhaps less than a week away — jurors will be asked to look into their hearts and make a moral decision on justice and James Holmes’ life.

For more than three months, the jury has been weighing evidence to decide that question.

“Now,” Pozner said, “it’s ‘Let’s weigh humanity.’ “

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johningold

Staff writers John Aguilar and Elizabeth Hernandez contributed to this report.